Colorado State Patrol Trooper Daniel Harrison Haley of Greeley may have been off duty when he saved a boy from drowning, but the presentation of his Carnegie Medal on Aug. 14 in recognition of that act was very much an official event. The medal was given to him by Hero Fund board member Linda T. Hills, left, at a ceremony at the patrol’s training academy in Golden, not far from Hills’s home in Littleton. On Nov. 27, 2010, Haley was visiting a community park in Greeley with his family when he saw a 10-year-old boy fall through ice on a pond there about 60 feet from the bank. After crawling toward the boy but also breaking through, Haley worked to heave both the boy and himself back onto solid ice. Unable to grain traction, Haley rolled to the bank, where he collapsed from exhaustion. Both he and the boy required hospital treatment, and they recovered. Col. James Wolfinbarger, chief of the state patrol, said that Haley is an “outstanding law enforcement professional and a valued member of his community. His heroic off-duty actions will always be remembered.” Hills said she was honored to make the presentation: “Giving medals in person by board members makes the award more special.” Haley is shown with his wife, Kirstin; daughter; Emmersyn, 3; and son, Nolan, who was born only five days before the presentation. Photo by Harold Hills.
