Clinton police Officer Tyler Maloon was on routine patrol June 19 when he pulled over a driver who appeared to be operating erratically on Hinckley Road.

As standard procedure, Maloon conducted a field sobriety test on the 54-year-old man.

But then something unexpected happened.

“He collapsed and went into cardiac arrest,” Maloon recalled Monday. “It was just before 9 p.m. He collapsed on the ground and was gasping for air, struggling for breath.”

Maloon, 22, used his portable radio to call for Clinton Rescue and launched into emergency mode.

“When he stopped struggling for breath, I started CPR and did that close to two minutes,” Maloon said. “At that point, a neighbor came out as well. He thought I was fighting with the guy. He saw that he was in cardiac arrest and I was doing CPR.”

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The neighbor held the man’s head up while Maloon continued CPR, and then the man, who was semi-conscious, started to breathe again, though he was struggling. Maloon’s portable radio wasn’t coming in well, so he went back to his cruiser to update rescue workers on the man’s status. Rescue arrived and continued CPR in the ambulance, started a defibrillator and took the man to a Waterville hospital. From there he was LifeFlighted to Portland and then to a veterans’ hospital in Boston.

Maloon had saved the man’s life, according to Clinton police Chief Craig Johnson.

“There’s a man that’s alive and walking around and breathing today because of him,” Johnson said.

Maloon is one of dozens of people from Kennebec County who will be honored Wednesday with Spirit of America Foundation Tribute awards at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Kennebec County Courthouse in Augusta.

Spirit of America Foundation is a public charity established in 1990 in Augusta to honor people for volunteerism and engaging in commendable community service. In this case, the town of Clinton nominated Maloon for the award.

“He’s a very fine officer,” Johnson said of Maloon. “He does a professional job. He’s good with people. He’s good to work with. He’s well-liked by everybody. He’s quite an asset for us.”

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Maloon, 22, of Pittsfield, has worked full time at the Clinton Police Department since September 2014 and worked part-time before that. He also is a part-time Winslow police officer.

He grew up in Pittsfield and graduated from Maine Central Institute in 2011 before enrolling at Husson University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in May. He also graduated in May from the Maine Criminal Justice Academy.

Maloon, who said he did CPR training while a student at Husson, was reluctant to take all the credit for saving the man’s life June 19, saying it was a team effort by the neighbor who helped, rescue workers, hospital staff and LifeFlight.

“I was just a link in the chain, pretty much,” he said. “It’s good to be part of something like that.”

Others are scheduled to receive Spirit of America Foundation awards Wednesday:

• Albion: Cynthia Drake, an active Lions Club member, annually sets up a mitten tree to buy needy kids Christmas gifts.

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• Augusta: Kimberly Michaud spearheaded building a Kiwanis playground at MaineGeneral Medical Center.

• Belgrade: Belgrade Troop 453 Scout Committee: Marilyn Bickford knits and donates hats and mittens to children at the Belgrade Central School; Betty Jo Howard develops recreation and camping programs for the parks and recreation department; Julie McKenney is cubmaster for Belgrade Pack 453; Valencia Schubert, director of the Community Center for All Seasons, is praised for her helpfulness.

• Benton: Jacob Marcoux, who is in charge of the Jobs for Maine Graduates program at Lawrence High School in Fairfield; Lawrence High JMG students, who organized an Alewives Festival dinner and volunteer for other causes.

• Chelsea: Chelsea Elementary School Food Pantry, which provides a weekend’s supply of food to children in need; Chelsea Historical Society, which bought and installed granite benches honoring prominent dead residents.

• China: Cheryl Baker, spokeswoman for South China Library, where she was librarian for years; Irene Belanger has served as selectman, planning board member and member of many other local committees; Mary Grow, who keeps people informed of China happenings and is librarian at Albert Brown Library; Mary Lockhart, who greets patients and is a volunteer at Inland Hospital; George Oliver, a former chief of Weeks Mills Fire Department, who has been a firefighter for 45 years.

• Farmingdale: J& S Oil, which “does so much during wintertime and the other seasons of the year to help people in need”; Jon Lambert and Linda Leet, who “have given countless hours of dedicated service to RSU 2 School Board.”

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• Fayette: Marty Maxwell has served Fayette’s Fire Department for more than 20 years, many of them as its chief; Patrick Wheeler has been the town’s road foreman for years and does other things to help people.

• Gardiner: Gardiner Rotary Club does an electronic waste collection, helps food bank and gives scholarships.

• Hallowell: Susan McPherson is director of Old Hallowell Day, coordinating activities of annual celebration; Jane Orbeton serves as chairwoman of the Old Hallowell Day Committee and plans and runs meetings.

• Manchester: Fuel Assistance Committee, which runs an auction annually raising thousands for fuel for local people in need; Manchester Community Church Youth Group, which helps the food bank and other causes; Travis Armstrong and Hope Baptist Church, which “saved the Applefest by devising workable solutions.”

• Monmouth: Cottrell-Taylor Foundation, which annually organizes a Christmas meal for needy families and gives them gifts.

• Mount Vernon: Betty White, who organized the food bank and continued to oversee its operations for years.

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• Oakland: Cheryl Leonard, who headed the food pantry for more than 14 years; Paul Sheppard, who has served the Oakland Lions for more than 30 years and has been their Santa and the town’s Santa for about 15 years.

• Pittston: Built-Well Builders Inc., which constructed an outdoors classroom for Pittston School “and helps in other ways.”

• Randolph: Janice Kincaid, who has operated Janice’s Food Pantry for more than six years.

• Readfield: Duck Pond Wildlife Care Center has cared for animals and returned them to the wild for 50 years; Norma Grover has served as selectman, school board member, Scout leader and helped other causes; Sean Harper organized and sustained the Mileage Club at Readfield’s Elementary School.

• Rome: Keith Alexander, who supported his son’s fundraising effort for a new wheelchair accessible playground at Pine Tree Camp and Nicholas Alexander, his son, who led the fundraising drive; Douglas Stratton has been a big help on the Rome Recreation Committee.

• Sidney: Shirley Bragg has helped the Ladies Aid, her church, Lions, Bicycle Coalition of Maine, other causes; Jonathan Gammans headed the successful campaign to build the Veterans Memorial; Maura Gammans was a key fundraiser for the Veterans Memorial and organized lunch for Bike Trek.

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• Vassalboro: Vassalboro First Responders, “a dynamic new group” providing medical treatment for 911 calls.

• Vienna: Laura and Roger Reville, who have helped Union Hall, and been officers of 911 and the Grange. Roger was also a volunteer firefighter.

• Waterville: Arthur and Connie Turmelle, who do much to help the North End neighborhood and “others less fortunate.”

• Wayne: Gloria and Lincoln Ladd give time and money to help local causes, such as Ladd Recreation Center.

• Windsor: Barbara Adams provided dedicated service to the Windsor Food Bank over a span of many years; Melissa Plourde has been helping Girl Scouts and organized a Christmas project for the underprivileged; Bonnie Squiers gave devoted service to school for years and has helped community in other ways; Tom Squiers has helped his community as a selectman and also as a member of the school board; Mark St. Amand has devoted many hours of his time to helping the Windsor Youth Association; Betty Suitter gave much assistance over a period covering many years to the Windsor Food Bank.

• Winslow: George Prentiss, a past commander of Winslow VFW, “has done much to help that organization.”

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• Winthrop: Joseph Young served many years as police chief, headed ambulance services and “helped many causes.”

Amy Calder — 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @AmyCalder17


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