(WAUKEGAN) A Lake County correctional officer will be honored in March after being named the best in the state by the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association.

Officer Timothy Namovicz was nominated by Lake County Sheriff Mark C. Curran Jr. for the “Correctional Officer of the Year” award, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office.

On April 2, 2014, Namovicz responded to a suicide attempt at a solitary confinement unit in the county jail in north suburban Waukegan and found an inmate unresponsive with severe wounds on his wrist, the sheriff’s office said.

Namovicz and another officer administered first aid to stop the bleeding until paramedics arrived, including putting pressure dressing on the wounds, the sheriff’s office said. The inmate survived.

“We are all very proud that a life was saved,” Lake County Jail Chief David Wathen said. “That’s what this job is all about.”

Namovicz was chosen from “dozens of applicants” throughout Illinois, the statement said. The award will be presented March 30 in Peoria during the sheriff’s association’s winter training conference.

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