Wildlife Officer and Deputy Rescue Kayaker from NC Lake

A North Carolina wildlife officer and a sheriff’s deputy are being praised for their heroism after saving a kayaker whose vessel overturned Saturday on a lake in Stanly County.

According to a post on the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission’s Facebook page, the incident happened at Falls Reservoir along the Yadkin River in eastern Stanly County.

State officials said Master Officer David Ritzheimer and Stanly County deputy Darnell Almond helped rescue a kayaker who had been underwater for several minutes after his vessel overturned, WSOC reports.

According to the post, Ritzheimer and Almond took turns performing CPR on the kayaker for several minutes before he was revived and able to breathe on his own.