• By Ashleigh Sloop
• Posted Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Lieutenant Mark Elliott Receives the Rufus Dalton Award for 2012

The Rufus W. Dalton Trust was established by a bequest in 1983 from Rufus W. Dalton, to recognize and assist officers who are injured in the line of duty or the spouses and children of those who are killed in the performance of their duties. The chosen recipient is given a cash award along with a prestigious medal. The trust is administered by the Winston-Salem Foundation, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

On May 10th, 2012, Lieutenant Mark Elliott received information that a wanted robbery suspect was in the area of the 700 block of Ferrell Court of Winston-Salem. Lt. Elliott, along with other members of the sheriff’s office, responded to the area in an attempt to locate the suspect. Once in the area, the suspect was located by officers and attempted to flee. During the arrest of the subject, Lt. Elliott and another deputy tackled the subject to the ground at which point Lt. Elliott injured his right leg.

Lt. Elliott was transported by ambulance to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center where it was determined that his right leg was shattered. Lt. Elliott remained hospitalized for approximately 10 days and had to have reconstructive surgery to his leg.

Upon his release from the hospital, he was originally confined to a wheel chair and had to begin therapy to regain the use of his leg. He had to be again hospitalized due to complications from the first surgery that required a second surgery and an additional extended hospital admission.

Lt. Elliott began physical therapy whereby he had to then be transported back to the hospital for a life threatening issue with blood clots that required an extended stay in the Intensive Care Unit.

Despite the many setbacks, Lt. Elliott has continuously maintained a positive attitude and demonstrated incredible courage, faith and determination.

In October of 2012, Lt. Elliott was able to return to work on a modified duty basis while he continued with his physical therapy. He continued to make progress with his injury and returned to full duty on April 16th, 2013.