On this particular day last August, Methuen native Eric Hefner was on vacation at Jehrico Mountain State Park in Berlin, N.H. with his son, girlfriend, another couple and their kids.
“It was normally a boys’ weekend but we included the women this time,” said Hefner. “We were driving on a trail and made the turn around a corner and saw this ATV (all-terrain vehicle) on its side and a gentleman standing there waving for help. You could tell something was very wrong.”
When they got close, Hefner noticed the man was missing a large portion of his hand, with blood spewing out.
“It wasn’t good,” he said.
That’s when “Essex County Sergeant” Eric Hefner kicked in.
The injured man had a friend with him. Hefner had the friend take his T-shirt off and he made a tourniquet, also using a broken stick nearby.
“It stopped the bleeding,” said Hefner. “My friend called 911 and was asked if we had the fingers. They were apparently still under the ATV. So we had a few people helping flip it back up and the three fingers were still inside the glove.”
The extremities were immediately placed in a bag of ice and the man was stabilized. A few nurses arrived to help keep the man calm before a volunteer fire department got to the scene.
The man was transported to nearest airport and air-lifted to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
Hefner’s make-shift tourniquet probably saved the man from bleeding to death.
“If it wasn’t for training, I wouldn’t know,” said Hefner. “I didn’t really have time to think. Another person needs help and you help them. That’s where the training kicks in.”
He said when the area was ATV was cleared and the man was taken away by ambulance, what had happened finally hit him.
“There was a definite ‘wow’ factor, fully realizing what had happened and how I was able to help,” recalled Hefner, a 2000 graduate of Methuen High, later attending Northern Essex C.C. and UMass Lowell as a criminal justice major.
“It was nice having my son, Camden (13), there and seeing ‘This is what dad does,’” said Hefner. “And it’s nice to show him that one person can help another.”
Back in November, Essex County Sheriff Kevin Coppinger presented Sgt. Hefner with a certificate of recognition for his heroism.
Hefner currently oversees the Essex County Pre-release and Re-entry Center in Lawrence, known as the farm, where’s he been for nearly four years. The previous 15 years he was based at the Essex County office at the Middleton Jail.
On Monday night, Hefner was honored in front of a packed T.D. Garden in the Celtics series opener with the Knicks as part of its 28-year program, “Heroes Among Us.”
Standing at center court, he received a rousing standing ovation in between the first and second quarter.
“I was more nervous going out there than I was putting tourniquet on,” said Hefner. “Being recognized for helping a person in need; it felt really good.
“As I walked off fans were fist-bumping me and saying, ‘Great job!’” said Hefner. “It was a heart-felt moment, something I’ll never forget.”