Two ZHS Students Receive ZPD Life Saving Award

ZANESVILLE, Ohio — Two Zanesville High School sophomores are put front and center during a pep rally at their school Friday.

Zanesville Police Chief Tony Coury & Mayor Don Mason were on hand to present the awards to the students.

“We made the decision that we would present these two students with an award, and we decided we would give them the Zanesville Police Department’s Lifesaving Award. I have never seen this award being handed out to a civilian or anybody outside of the police department, but we felt that these two kids, Nathan Smith and Ryan Murphy, did such a great job and were able to get in and get involved that they deserved some type of an award,” Coury tells WHIZ News.

The students say it was a first for them.

“I went over to his house and told his grandpa and stuff, and his grandpa came over with me. Ryan came over, too. At that point, right when we got over there, the fire truck came and they had to give them CPR and stuff,” Smith says.

“It was like a first time experience. I didn’t know what to do. It was kind of like, it all happened so fast. It was such a young kid, I didn’t know what I could do about it,” Murphy says.

Chief Coury says it’s the first time the award has been given to a private person.