WATERBURY — Vermont State Police Trooper Michelle Archer has been named a Carnegie Hero for her lifesaving rescue of a girl who plunged through thin ice covering a pond in December 2023.
Trooper Archer is one of 17 individuals in the United States and Canada to receive a Carnegie Medal for Heroism after they “risked death or serious physical injury to an extraordinary degree saving or attempting to save the lives of others,” the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission announced this week.
The award recognizes Trooper Archer’s heroism and selflessness in saving an 8-year-old girl who fell into frigid water Dec. 17, 2023, in Cambridge.
Trooper Archer was on patrol nearby and arrived on scene less than five minutes after a 911 call.
She grabbed a department-issued throw rope and flotation device, removed her duty belt, entered the near-freezing pond and swam to the girl.
Trooper Archer secured the girl and returned to shore, where Trooper Keith Cote carried the girl to a waiting Cambridge Rescue ambulance.
“My instincts and training kicked in, and there was no question what I needed to do,” Trooper Archer said. “When I jumped into that frozen pond, the only thing I was thinking about was reaching that little girl and trying to save her life.”
Last year, Trooper Archer was named a finalist for International Association of Chiefs of Police / Motorola Solutions Trooper of the Year, and she received a Vermont State Police Lifesaving Award, among other honors.
“Receiving the Carnegie Medal is a tremendous honor, and I can think of no more deserving a recipient than Trooper Archer,” said Col. Matthew T. Birmingham, director of the Vermont State Police.
Trooper Archer joined the Vermont State Police in January 2018 and is currently assigned to the Williston Barracks.
More information about the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission and the 17 newest recipients is available on the fund’s website.
