York County sergeant ‘truly is a hero’ for saving woman’s life

YORK, Neb. (KLKN) – A York County sergeant was honored Saturday for his heroic work on the job.

In May 2024, Sgt. Taylor Samek was sent to a home where a 77-year-old woman was unconscious and gurgling.

She recently had surgery and was taking pain medication.

Samek gave her Narcan for a possible overdose from the medication.

When there was not much response to the Narcan, Samek hooked up an AED and began CPR.

Fortunately, the woman woke up and began breathing.

The York County Sheriff’s Department said had it not been for Samek, she might not have survived.

“Super grateful that it turned out the way it did. Doesn’t always turn out that way,” Samek said. “I’m just really fortunate that she was able to spend the holidays with her family and that she’s still here today.”

The fire personnel who arrived on the scene believe she suffered a cardiac event.

Capt. Josh Gillespie said Samek is a great leader within the community and is a true hero.

That is why he received the 2024 Life Saver Award.

“He’s pretty humble, but I’ll brag about him for a little bit because he does an awesome job with everything that he does,” Gillespie said.

He also said the woman was very appreciative.

“She did say that Sgt. Samek truly did save her life and that she would not be here without Taylor Samek’s intervention,” Gillespie said. “Sgt. Samek truly is a hero in this situation, and we’re super, super proud.”

The woman whom Samek saved showed her gratitude after her recovery as well by sending him a Christmas card.

“Just, ‘Thank you so much for saving my life, it was a long recovery but I’m here today.’ That was really cool,” Samek said. “I’ve never received any sort of mail like that before, so just to kind of get that and to know that everything turned out OK, that was really cool.”