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Rockland police officers hailed as heroes for saving man's life

ROCKLAND, Mass. — Two police officers were honored for helping save a man's life after he lost his arm in a machine.

And the Rockland Police Department is starting a new program in light of these officer's heroic actions.

Any police officer who saves a life will get a new ribbon to wear on their uniforms.

"We’ve done an award before but not on this scale," said Rockland Police Chief John Llewellyn.

Officer Mike Nota and Sgt. Thomas MacDonald jumped to help John Kelley, who had just lost his arm in a machine two months ago.

"Phenomenal job, they settled me down, they put the tourniquet on, that’s why I'm here today," Kelley said.

The officers used their new training and tourniquets to stop the bleeding and save Kelley, who was within minutes of dying.

"Twenty-three years, this is something you’ll never forget, you’ll never get that image out of your head, just seeing him like this makes up for everything I saw, so it’s well worth it," said MacDonald.

It's a heroic act now recognized by a new red-and-white ribbon for any officer who saves a life.

"And we are gonna move forward with this type of a ribbon, and these two gentlemen should really get the credit for setting this in motion," Llewellyn said.

Llewellyn said he's thankful his department was able to train on using the tourniquets just about two years ago.