Hero cop who refused to let go of attempted bridge jumper after being stabbed 7 times

September 13, 2017, 09:09 PM

S600MBUSA

"I would have struggled with that guy until I absolutely couldn’t do it anymore. I wasn’t quitting. But neither was he.”

Patrolman Norem exemplifies selfless courage. The whole article is worth a read. Dashcam and photos (somewhat graphic) are included. This incident occurred in 2012, but the details are just now being discussed now that the man Norem saved has been convicted and sentenced.

Article from Desert Sun

quote:
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Highway Patrol Officer Dane Norem rushed out of his car, sprinted to the curb, jumped and grabbed the suicidal man by the ankle just as he straddled the top of the overpass fence. A busy highway roared beneath them.

If Norem let go, the jumper would die. Cars would swerve and crash. Others might die too.

But Norem was determined not to let that happen. He wrapped the man’s leg in a bear hug and lifted his feet, using his body to anchor the jumper to the overpass. The man had too much leverage for Norem to pull him off the fence, but Norem – a big cop loaded with gear – was too strong and too heavy for the man to yank free. It was a stalemate in a tug-of-war between life and death.

But the jumper had a knife. He stabbed downward.

“When I got struck in the face, it didn’t really hurt,” Norem said. “It felt like I had been punched and it felt wet, like a water balloon had popped. I came to figure out later that was my eye.”

Over the next two minutes, Norem would be stabbed seven times, including once in his right eye, yet he would refuse to let go, knowing that his grip was the last defense against catastrophe. This rescue, which occurred Oct. 25, 2012, would become the defining moment for a hero police officer, praised across California for bravery so remarkable that it makes other cops pause in awe. Norem’s selflessness would save a life – likely more than one – but in the process he would be so viciously wounded that he nearly lost his eyesight, his career and his identity.

After the stabbing, it would take three years and a state-of-the-art surgery for Norem to become a full-fledged police officer again. He would finally return to duty just in time to respond to the San Bernardino terror attack, when California needed its cops more than ever. And throughout his recovery, Norem would maintain enlistment in the California Air National Guard, going to the Middle East this year on a deployment that was once considered unthinkable because of his injuries.

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September 13, 2017, 09:29 PM

rusbro

Wow. He's a better man than I. After the first stabbing or threat with a knife, I'd of pushed the guy off the damned bridge..

September 13, 2017, 09:35 PM

H&K-Guy

This is what it means to be a Police Officer.

H&K-Guy

September 13, 2017, 11:46 PM

bubbatime

If some guy is stabbing me in the eye, I'm a throwing that MFer off the fucking bridge myself.

September 14, 2017, 12:14 AM

Sigmanic

If he had stabbed me in the eye I would have shot him.

September 14, 2017, 12:26 AM

Rey HRH

One swing with the knife and no one would have faulted him for letting go.

"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.

September 14, 2017, 05:41 AM

TBH

It also warms my heart to see so many stop to try to help the officer.

September 14, 2017, 06:54 AM

45 Cal

One reason I could not be a cop,you hurt me I hurt you back.

September 14, 2017, 10:05 AM

18Z50

I'd have let him fall. Not getting killed by a mental is among my career goals each year.

18Z50

September 14, 2017, 10:06 AM

bubbatime

"Hero" cop. More like cop that didn't apply proper and judicious force, and needs serious retraining.

September 14, 2017, 10:06 AM

stickman428

My idea of a hero is not somone who gets stabbed in the eye while saving human garbage.

September 14, 2017, 10:07 AM

tatortodd

Officer Dane Norem doesn't have an ounce of quit in him

quote:
Originally posted by TBH:
It also warms my heart to see so many stop to try to help the officer.

September 14, 2017, 10:12 AM

parabellum

Does he have a family? A wife and children, perhaps? After he'd died from stab wounds- inflicted by someone who will probably end up taking their own life before too long because they set out to do it- would his wife and children be sustained by his heroism, trying to save one who didn't want saving?

Oh, yes, someone on the roadway below might have been injured or killed if the suicider had jumped. Yeah. Might. Possibly. As opposed to this officer actually being stabbed repeatedly.

September 14, 2017, 10:15 AM

Crom

Yeah....uhh...that was certainly courageous and magnanimous.....but at some point it is just plain silly to be sacrificing your own safety and health for someone who is stabbing you.

Shouldn't the officer also think about the welfare of his own family ?

All in all, it just seems "misguided".
But maybe I don't know the details.

September 14, 2017, 10:23 AM

12131

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this cop should have let that POS go.

September 14, 2017, 10:23 AM

Georgeair

quote:
Originally posted by Sigmanic:
If he had stabbed me in the eye I would have shot him.

This seems like a much better plan than what happened.

September 14, 2017, 10:37 AM

darthfuster

quote:
Originally posted by H&K-Guy:
This is what it means to be a Police Officer.

H&K-Guy

This is how I've viewed LE most of my life.

September 14, 2017, 10:47 AM

indigoss

That is a cop that's in the wrong profession. Any person that would subject themselves to that kind of life threatening abuse needs to be evaluated.

September 14, 2017, 11:26 AM

S600MBUSA

quote:
Originally posted by stickman428:
My idea of a hero is not somone who gets stabbed in the eye while saving human garbage.

He disregarded his own safety to prevent innocents from being hurt by that human garbage's selfish act. After all those injuries, the surgeries, the pain, he could have medically retired and just taken a check. Instead he did everything he could to return to duty as a patrolman and even showed up at his National Guard training two months after he was stabbed, eventually deploying to Kuwait for 8 months.

Opinions obviously differ, but that's a hero in my book.