They normally handle handcuffs and tasers, but law enforcement officers in an Indiana community picked up saws and hammers over the weekend to help a friend in need. 

Sheriff’s deputies, jail officers, administrators and Sullivan Police Department officers spent hours Saturday working with tools, lumber and concrete to build a walkway and ramp behind a house in Shelburn, Ind., about 20 miles from Terre Haute, for a beloved colleague, Doug Inman. 

Four weeks ago Inman, an assistant jail commander and Shelburn Town Marshal, had an abdominal aortic aneurysm that ruptured. The life-threatening condition prompted him to go to a local emergency room, and then he was transported by helicopter to a hospital in Evansville.

The aneurysm was about 10.7 centimeters, twice the size of a softball, his wife, Clara, told the Terre Haute (Ind.) Tribune Star.

“The doctor said it was like a grenade went off inside of me,” Inman said during an interview at his home. The health care workers also told him that “I would likely die.”

But “by the grace of God and the surgeon’s skill,” Inman responded to the treatments, survived the surgery and was back home earlier than expected. A person with his condition would normally stay in the hospital for four months, Clara said, but he spent only 26 days — including rehabilitation treatment.

He healed very quickly, Inman said, and has started walking again — even after leaving the hospital only last Tuesday. He can “kick it around the block” now, he said. 

“The doctors at the hospital called him ‘Miracle Man,’” Clara said.

This “miracle man” has affected many lives in Sullivan County. So much so that his co-workers showed up at his home Saturday to help make his life a little easier. They built the ramp Saturday, but in previous days, they had been dropping by to mow the lawn and do other “odds and ends.”

“He’s a good guy,” said Randy Beller, a jail officer at the Sullivan County Jail. “I hate to see him in this condition.”

“He’s done a lot for this community, and we owe him,” he said.

In addition to his work at the jail and role as town marshal, Inman also provides training to police officers in western Indiana in general police topics, tactics and firearms. A 29-year veteran of the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department and Shelburn’s town marshal since 1995, he’s considered a mentor by many of his co-workers.

“We’re a family, and families help each other,” Beller said.

Those helping hands also extend to Clara, who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. “The family is going through a tough time,” Beller said.

“We’re doing this out of friendship to Doug,” Sullivan County Sheriff Clark Cottom added. “Doug is the kind of guy that would do anything for anyone. He’s a valued employee and a good person. He’s got a long road to recovery, and we’re here to help him.”

The workers used donated materials and labor from area businesses to finish the ramp.

Inman faces two more surgeries for two other aneurysms, and he said the help from his friends will make it “a whole lot easier on me.” 

The Inmans were very grateful. “I’m overwhelmed,” Clara said, “Everyone has come together. I just thank God for every one of them.”

Powell writes for the Terre Haute (Ind.) Tribune Star.