BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C.–The Exchange Club of Charleston recently recognized a Berkeley County deputy shot in the line of duty last year.
On Thursday, Exchange members presented Cpl. Kimber Kist with the “Blue & Gold Wounded in Service Award, the club’s highest tribute to firefighters and law enforcement. She was presented with flowers, a medal and certificate.
According to the National Exchange Club, the purpose of the award is to further enhance the public’s level of respect, admiration, and appreciation for the severe sacrifices which law enforcement officers and firefighters frequently make in the line of duty.
The qualifications for the Blue & Gold Award are simple, yet severe. A man or woman may be considered for the award if he or she is an official member in good standing of a certified law enforcement agency or fire department and is injured in the line of duty.
Gist certainly met those qualifications for the award. In February 2016, she was shot while checking out a suspicious vehicle located behind Food Lion on Redbank Road. After detaining one of the individuals in the car, a second person began to fight Gist.
Authorities stated that he then pulled out a gun, shooting Gist multiple times. Her body armor stopped some of the bullets from penetrating her body. No doubt her recovery today has been nothing short of a miracle.
“I’m alive. I fought. I made it,” Gist posted on social media hours after surgery.
Her shooter later committed suicide with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
More than a year after the shooting, Gist is back on patrol and serves as an officer on her department’s Community Action Team.
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