Construction workers honored for saving colleague

The Palatine Fire Department has recognized the role of two construction workers who saved the life of their colleague.

Bill O'Brien and Doug Chapman received certificates of merit Friday for saving Robert Chapman during an incident that occurred July 24. Doug is Robert's uncle.

While the men were working at about 8 a.m. on that day, Robert, who works for Deal Construction, suffered a medical emergency while on a scaffold about 25 feet above the ground.

Doug, who recognized the severity of the situation, initially held him and prevented him from falling from the narrow scaffold.

On the ground, O'Brien saw what was happening and quickly scaled the ladder to assist the elder Chapman until firefighters arrived.

Without the quick actions, Robert would have fallen.

Due to the precarious positioning on the scaffold, responding firefighters called for additional help to assist in the rescue.