A search-and-rescue team based in Stark County has been honored for finding and saving the life of a 62-year-old former Marine Corps veteran who went missing in September in Richland County.

The Mansfield man, who had medical issues, was reported missing Sept. 15. He was found in dense underbrush along a creek after a search by members of the all-volunteer Ohio Special Response Team.

“The missing man in Mansfield was in extreme hypothermia when we located him,” response team Capt. Alan Plastow wrote in an email. “He originally only had vision in one eye but injured the other eye in a fall early in the incident timeline.

“Essentially, he was almost completely blind during the entire time he was lost. He was extremely disoriented and could no longer walk when we found him. (He) had to be carried out to a waiting ambulance. He has since recovered.”

Richland County Sheriff Steve Sheldon on Tuesday presented a certificate of appreciation and letter to the response team members at the Sheriff’s Office, telling them they “saved a life.”

Capt. Alan Plastow: Volunteer team found man using research

The team of volunteers was called after the Sheriff’s Office exhausted its search, which included a K-9 and Ontario Police Department’s drone. Due to the missing person’s health, nightfall approaching within hours and dropping temperatures, it was crucial to call in the rescue team, Sheldon said.

Thirteen members, plus a K-9 named Besa owned by Sarah Gentry, a nurse from Ashland, attended the event Tuesday. Nineteen volunteers plus the German shepherd responded in the September search.

Plastow said there was a brief discussion about calling off the search, but he feared it would become a recovery mission.

First, the group searched areas the missing man would not be in, as training dictated. Then members used their research for finding people who are disoriented or diagnosed with dementia to determine where the person would most likely be ― near water and down a hill.

“I yelled, ‘Attention on deck’ to get his attention,” Plastow said, noting the man, while very disoriented, seemed to know they were there to help him.

Members of the search team said the man sent them a thank-you note. He declined to attend the ceremony.

Sgt. Jason Shoemaker of the Richland County Sheriff’s Office said it was a daunting task getting the man out of the woods. The man was not able to walk and could barely stand. He was carried to a utility vehicle and then transported to an emergency squad and taken to a hospital for treatment.

Shoemaker recalled the man telling rescuers he had taken trash outside at 5:30 a.m., became disoriented and couldn’t find his way back to the residence.

“He said he fell and something hit his good eye and it was very hard for him to see at that point,” Shoemaker said.

The response team found him after he had been outside for 17½ hours.

“This positive outcome is partly due to the cooperation of all parties involved including the volunteers who stopped what they were doing that day to aid us in the situation,” Shoemaker said. “Our department would like to publicly thank the Ohio Special Response Team for their dedication to our community and for those in need. Thank you each and every one of you.”

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Anyone who wants to join the Ohio Special Response Team can as long as they have a clean police record.

“We take everybody. We need anybody who can do ground-pounding,” said team member Denise Kroger, a deputy at the Medina County Sheriff’s Office. “We have the K-9, we have the drone. We have a little bit of everything. We need somebody who is good and can run with our electronics and setup.”

There are several teams in the state of Ohio, she said.

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Canton Repository staff writer Nancy Molnar contributed to this story.

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Ohio Special Response Team honored for saving life of Mansfield man