2 county deputies honored for saving lives

Within about two weeks, two Westmoreland County sheriff's deputies saved the lives of two men.

On Thursday, deputies Ilarion "Larry" Shuga and Pete Palucacos were honored for their actions.

Shuga helped Daniel Brown, 68, of Scottdale, when he went into cardiac arrest at the courthouse. Palucacos saved John Cleaver of Bloomington, Ill., who went into diabetic shock while driving along the Amos K. Hutchinson bypass.

"I'm glad we have two happy endings to report ... the direct result of two guys going above and beyond the call of duty," said Sheriff Chris Scherer, who presented the deputies with plaques during a ceremony at the courthouse.

On Dec. 29, Shuga was coming to the end of his shift when he was called to help Brown, who collapsed inside the courthouse.

Brown gasped for air and Shuga realized he was in cardiac arrest. With the help of county park police and a passing nurse, Shuga used an AED to shock the man's heart and started CPR as well.

"How are you feeling?" Shuga asked Brown yesterday as they met before the ceremony.

"I look a little different than the last time we saw each other," Brown said.

Brown and his wife of nearly 50 years, Joan, shed tears as they thanked Shuga.

"He wouldn't be here today," Joan Brown said.

Daniel Brown doesn't even remember crossing the street to enter the courthouse that day. Ironically, he was going there to get his driver's license back after an incident in September when he passed out while driving. Doctors couldn't find anything wrong with Brown then, but after the December incident, they discovered three blockages in his heart.

Today, he said, he feels fine.

And while the Browns praised Shuga, he tried to downplay what he did.

"I'm only doing what I hope someone would do for me," he said.

As Palucacos drove to work on Jan. 15, he spotted a car pulled off on the side of Toll Route 66.

The car looked as if it had been wrecked. The driver was slouched in his seat.

Palucacos decided to stop.

"I asked him to put his window down," Palucacos said. "He put his back passenger window down. Then I'm thinking there's something wrong with this ... He just wasn't making sense. He couldn't talk."

Palucacos realized the man had a medical problem. But it was snowing, and Palucacos was afraid the ambulance would be too late.

He put Cleaver in his vehicle and drove him to Excela Westmoreland Hospital. It turned out that Cleaver, a diabetic, went into shock because his insulin pump malfunctioned.

Within a few hours, he was well enough to fly home from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, where he was headed at the time of the emergency.

"I want to thank the deputy that saved my life," Cleaver said in a news release. "I wish I could be there to personally thank him, but he will always be in my thoughts and prayers."

Palucacos was matter-of-fact about the whole thing.

"It really wasn't a big deal," he said. "I was just there at the right time, I guess."