It was a regular night shift for Colorado State Trooper Jonathon Kay. He was working DUI enforcement on Highway 115 near Colorado Springs when he crested a hill and heard a crash.

Seconds later, he was parked at the scene of a head-on collision.

The driver was Army Specialist Morgan Jenison. He was trapped in his vehicle. Trooper Kay forced the door open and cut through the airbags. It was immediately clear Morgan’s injury was serious—his right leg was bleeding badly.

Trooper Kay knew exactly what he had to do and told Morgan that he was going to apply a tourniquet and that it would hurt.

He got the tourniquet on quickly and correctly. The bleeding stopped.

While they waited for fire and medical to arrive—about five minutes—Trooper Kay stayed with Morgan. He kept him talking, trying to calm him down and take his mind off the injury.

Morgan later said that Kay saved his life.

For his lifesaving actions, Trooper Jon Kay will receive the Lifesaving Hero of the Year of the Year award at the American Red Cross Rocky Mountain Heroes Soirée on May 3, 2025.

We thank Lloyd J. King and Eleanor R. King Foundation for making this award possible and for their continued support of the American Red Cross of Colorado and Wyoming.