Maine

WATCH: Maine Trooper Carries Missing Elderly Man Out of Ditch

The man, who has Alzheimer's disease, was suffering from severe hypothermia and frostbite, and Trooper Tyler Harrington said, "We're praying for a speedy recovery"

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A Maine state trooper has come to the aid of an elderly man with Alzheimer’s disease who had wandered away from his home during a storm and ended up in a ditch.

Troopers got their missing person report from a home in Vassalboro at about 5 a.m. Wednesday. They also received information from a town plow truck driver that saw a man walking in the area that morning.

Trooper Tyler Harrington found the man in a ditch. He was suffering from severe hypothermia and frostbite. Sleet and freezing rain had fallen in the area.

Perry was unable to walk. Video shows Harrington carrying Perry across the road to his cruiser and the arrival of an ambulance.

"We're praying for a speedy recovery," Harrington said in an interview Thursday with NECN and NBC10 Boston's Dustin Wlodkowski.

"I think what the video captures is the power of looking out for one another, the good that law enforcement does throughout this country," he explained.

Harrington added that, while he is a key part of the story of Perry's rescue, the larger message in it not about him specifically saving someone in need.

"What the story has brought to me is to look out for one another, look our for your neighbor and, really, to take care of each other," he said.

Perry was taken to a hospital, where he is recovering from his injuries.

“We are grateful Bernard Perry was found in a timely manner and is recuperating,” the Maine Department of Public Safety said in a statement, adding it also was thankful for Harrington and law enforcement officers.

The Associated Press/NBC
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