NC Wildlife officers help 3-year-old girl with “severe” leg injury on Lake Norman

LAKE NORMAN, N.C. ( QUEEN CITY NEWS ) — Two NC Wildlife officers are being praised for swiftly helping a young girl with a leg injury while patrolling on Lake Norman, according to the NC Wildlife Resource Commission.

Around 6:20 p.m. on Friday, July 5, Officer Eric Burkhalter and Sergeant Brandon Lyon were waved down by a family near McCrary Creek. When they arrived, they saw the mother holding her 3-year-old daughter, who had a severe leg wound.

Officer Burkhalter applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. Officials say he was trained in Tactical Combat Casualty Care while serving in the U.S. military. He then drove their boat to the McCrary Creek Access as Sergeant Lyon contacted emergency response teams.

Officer Burkhalter urgently ran with the girl lying in his arms up the dock to meet the medical first responders and the Mooresville Fire Department. The girl was taken to a Level 1 trauma hospital in Charlotte because the lacerations were deep.

The next day, on July 6, the girl’s father said she was doing well and was expected to make a full recovery.

“We commend Officer Burkhalter and Sergeant Lyon for their quick thinking and heroic actions,” the NC Wildlife Resources Commission said via Facebook.

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