BIRDSEYE — An Indiana State Trooper is being credited with taking decisive action that helped save the life of a 35-year-old man following a severe, heavy-bleeding power tool accident over the weekend.
The incident occurred on Sunday afternoon, June 28, 2026, at the Wildridge RV Resort near Birdseye, located in rural Crawford County. At approximately 4:33 p.m., Crawford County emergency dispatchers received an urgent distress call reporting that a man had sustained a catastrophic laceration to his right leg and was bleeding heavily.
Trooper Blake Leary, a member of the Indiana State Police (ISP) Jasper Post, was the first law enforcement officer to arrive at the scene. Recognizing the immediate threat of lethal blood loss, Leary quickly deployed a tactical tourniquet to the victim’s upper right thigh, successfully clamping off the arterial bleeding before county emergency medical personnel arrived.
The man was subsequently stabilized and transported to a regional trauma center, where he is currently listed in stable condition.
All Indiana State Troopers undergo extensive medical first-responder training during the ISP Recruit Academy, which includes rapid tourniquet application, hemorrhage control, and shock management. Troopers routinely carry these medical kits on their duty belts to bridge the critical gap in rural areas before ambulances can navigate to the scene.
While state police officials initially released a report praising Leary’s quick five-minute response and deployment of the life-saving tool, the victim’s family has since come forward to add context to the chaotic afternoon.
Speaking with regional news outlets, the victim’s wife clarified that the tool involved was actually a skill saw. She emphasized that her husband’s initial bleeding was checked by his own quick thinking, as he managed to remove his pants belt and tightly wrap it around his leg within seconds of the injury.
According to the family, two nearby residents—a trained nurse and an off-duty firefighter who happened to be staying at the resort—immediately rushed to the campsite to provide medical aid and keep the pressure steady while waiting for help. The family noted that because the resort is highly rural, the initial responding officer encountered minor navigation delays trying to find their exact location on the property.
Ultimately, local emergency officials emphasize that the layered safety network—combining the victim’s immediate self-preservation, the swift response of neighbor volunteers, and the professional tourniquet placement by Trooper Leary—prevented what easily could have been a fatal holiday weekend tragedy.
