2016 Award for Valor

Officer Lori Brasko – St. Mary’s College of Maryland

This year’s Award for Valor is presented to Public Safety Officer Lori Brasko.

On the late evening of December 6, 2015, Officer Lori Brasko was patrolling the St. Mary's College of Maryland campus in a vehicle when she observed a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction at a high rate of speed, swerving which then struck a tree. Officer Brasko immediately turned her vehicle around and proceeded to the accident scene where she found the driver in the vehicle conscious but unable to exit. The vehicle was beginning to fill with smoke and Officer Brasko noticed that the dashboard on the driver side was on fire. With no regard for her own safety, Officer Brasko worked to free the driver from the vehicle and pull him a safe distance away. Within minutes the vehicle was completely engulfed in flames.

Without Officer Brasko's selfless actions, the incident would have ended in a tragedy.