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St. Paul Police Officers Honored For Saving 6 Lives

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- If it wasn't for St. Paul Police Officer Adam Bravo, a woman may have plunged to her death off the Wabasha Street Bridge. If it wasn't for Officer Susan Hartnett, a 10-month-old baby may have died after a seizure.

St. Paul's Police Chief honored 15 of its officers for saving lives at a ceremony at the Western District Office on Wednesday.

"She means the world to me. If they wouldn't have helped, I don't know what I would have done," said Amy Nelson, a St. Paul woman who called 911 in July 2010 after her little girl stopped breathing.

Officers Hartnett and Chris Hoyt showed up, opened Nayomi Nelson's airway and kept her alive until medics arrived.

"I'm so thankful," said Nelson.

Reunited for the first time since that July day, officer Hartnett held Nayomi in her arms. The little girl is now 2 years old and in perfect health.

"She's in her terrible twos," her mom said with a laugh.

During the ceremony, most of the officers were honored for thwarting suicide attempts.

Officer Nichols Schafer and Philip Mohs saved a man who was straddling the window ledge of his 16th floor apartment.

Officers Francisco Ortiz, Todd Tessmer, Joseph Bilek and Brian Casey spent 90 minutes talking a man off the snowy ledge of the Edgerton Bridge.

Officer Seth Snedden, Joshua Lynaugh and Christopher McGuire cut down a man who had tried to hang himself using a sheet tied around some bathroom pipes.

Officer Krystel Karels used chest compressions to save a man who had overdosed on drugs.

Officers Shawn Longen, Len Wall and Adam Bravo saved a woman who tried to jump from the Wabasha Street Bridge over the Missisiippi River.

The woman was hanging off the bridge, held up by two witnesses who grabbed her arms. Bravo grabbed her around the waist, the other two officers pulled her up to safety.

"Those are the things you look back on, you remember the times you were able to help somebody and this person is alive because of what we did," said Bravo.

Bravo's dad designed the Life Saving Award when he was on the force.

"He designed it and it's in the family," said Bravo.

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