Rehg earns Rotary’s Service Above Self Award
The patrolman, who is part of KCSO’s Motorcycle Tango Unit, acted on trained instinct and just grabbed the young man’s feet as he was in mid-air, getting the man back to safety and saving his life.
That heroic action spurred The Rotary Club of Farragut to present Rehg with its annual Service Above Self Award during its in-person meeting Wednesday, March 17, in Fox Den Country Club.
“It’s an honor,” Rehg said about receiving the award. “It feels good, with the times that the world’s in right now, that we’re still recognized for what we do, and we do it every day without hesitation.”
“His dedication has been at 20 years,” KCSO Chief Deputy Bernie Lyon said of Rehg. “He’s been an outstanding officer for us.”
Lyon noted Rehg started in the narcotics division in 2005 before moving on to the motorcycle unit.
“The guys on my shift are almost like sons to me, and when they do well it makes me very proud of them,” Capt. Todd Clark, who heads KCSO Motorcycle Tango Unit, said about Rehg.
RCF annually presents a Service Above Self Award to a member of the emergency services community who went above and beyond, the club’s publicity chairman Tom King stated in RCF’s March 21 newsletter. King said the club’s board of directors voted unanimously to present the honor to Rehg; however, the presentation was delayed when the pandemic curtailed in-person meetings last March.
“We owe him a debt of gratitude,” King said of Rehg during the meeting.
“I want to thank you for acknowledging the Sheriff’s Office and our officer,” Lyon said to the Rotarians.
Clark recalled on that rainy day almost two years ago, Reghs was coming up to I-640 westbound when he observed a young man standing on the overpass.
“He was the first one on the scene,” Clark said. Regh and a Knoxville Police officer, Lt. Chris McCarter, were able to calm the young man, but while waiting for an ambulance, the young man became upset when his father arrived.
“And, coming up from a seated position, the young man jumped over the railing of the bridge,” Clark said. “(Regh) reached over and caught him by the ankles.”
Risking falling over the railing themselves, the captain said the officers brought back the young man from over the railing and had him transported to a hospital for evaluation.
Having watched a video of the event, Clark said, “it was truly exciting and scary … officer Regh’s reaction was quicker.”
“There was no thought,” Rehg recalled as the man was jumping off the bridge. “The kid was sitting down, and I had my back to the bridge, just waiting on an ambulance to come, and he jumped.”
So, the patrolman’s reaction: “Just grab him,” he recalled. “Just reflex.”
