On September 21, 2019, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office Deputies Scott Brettell, Chad Wheat, Peter Gaffney (RET), and Lieutenant Eric Carnell were having lunch at a hunting location in Colorado.  Deputy Brettell received information of a hunter, Mr. Mason Young from Arkansas, who accidentally injured himself with a knife and it was believed his femoral artery was cut.  Together the team of deputies assembled a rescue team of themselves and two medically trained spouses.

With knowledge that they were much closer than Search and Rescue, the team departed 12 miles on ATV’s to an approximate location where Mason was believed to be.  This area was approximately five square miles of the roughest terrain in Colorado.  Mason’s ATV was found in a remote location and the team began the daunting search. 

Deputies Brettell and Wheat put themselves in a hunter’s mindset and headed in a direction they felt they too would go if they were Mason.  After some time and about a mile away from the ATV’s they located Mason.  The deputies' spouses began medically assessing and tending to Mason, they determined the cut was not the femoral but a different vessel. 

Due to temperatures dropping, the decision was made to evacuate Mason.

Deputies Brettell and Wheat began an ascent through the rugged terrain up the mountain, escorting Mason to their ATV's.  There, Lieutenant Carnell located Search and Rescue and brought them to Mason.  The group put a plan together with Search and Rescue and orchestrated a plan to get him to the only place a helicopter could land, atop a 11,300 foot mountain.  At the landing zone, Mason received the care he needed from fully equipped medical personnel.

The rescue team undoubtedly saved Mason's life.  Mason and his family expressed their utmost gratitude for the lifesaving efforts he received.