“It was a team effort that joined scores of people and two communities.But in the end, laments Island County Sheriff’s Deputy Rob Hardcastle, he was the only one recognized – and awarded – for the March 27 rescue of a suicidal woman on the Deception Pass bridge.I’m in the public service and that’s it, said Hardcastle. I’m not a hero … the bigger story, the better story, was the entire community reaching out to this person in pain.During a meeting of the Island County Commissioners on Monday, Hardcastle was awarded a Washington State Life Saving Medal by Sheriff Michael Hawley. He was also named Island County Employee of the Month.Hardcastle, a 22-year Marine Corps veteran who joined the sheriff’s department in 1994, said he bristled at the idea of receiving any accolades for his role in the incident because what he did was simply one part of a larger process.At about 7:30 the morning of the rescue, Hardcastle recalled, he and a department detective were in the North Precinct office when they got a call that a woman was hanging from the bridge. The two eventually made their way through backed-up traffic to discover a Skagit County detective – who had happened upon the woman as she got out of her car and climbed over the bridge railing – talking with the woman and trying to coax her back to safety. The Skagit detective, however, was standing on the opposite side of a cable railing that separates vehicles from a pedestrian walkway. He was unable to get close enough to the distressed woman to grab her, were she to attempt to jump.Hardcastle immediately saw the other detective’s dilemma. He stepped onto the bridge on the other side of the cable railing and began talking with the woman after the other detective handed the negotiating over to him.The deputy, who spent about three years with the Seattle Police Department working with the mentally disturbed, knew the woman had already entered a suicidal aura, literally a psychological point of no return. He realized it was just a matter of time before the woman leaped.So, Hardcastle kept talking to the woman and inched his way toward her as she turned her head periodically to glance downward.Meanwhile, said Hardcastle, several officers from both counties had arrived on the scene, two rescue boats, including a Zodiac, were being launched in the waters below. An emergency-response helicopter was flying overhead and two ambulances were waiting just beyond the bridge. Several road workers had kept commuters at bay – and out of the way.All the dogs and cats were in place … we could do everything but save her.At the point she let go of the rail began to fall, Hardcastle grabbed the woman in mid-air. The next moment, a group Skagit and Island county officers grabbed the two and pulled them back to safety. Hardcastle remembers, everyone had a hold on the woman … I don’t think there was another inch of her body left.The woman was immediately taken into custody and was later admitted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for psychological evaluation.Hardcastle said he was distressed by the media’s coverage of the event, which focused exclusively on his role and ignored almost everything else.But, he asserted, I was just one point in a large triangle of people … if I had disappeared, someone else would have stepped up.Hardcastle, 52, said the suicide rescue was typical of incidents that happen frequently along the bridge. For example, he said, Washington State Patrol Trooper Mark Brown faced a similar situation at the same bridge and persuaded a suicidal man to give up and seek help. There wasn’t a word reported about him, said Hardcastle.Nonetheless, the media – and subsequently the community – lauded him and sought to honor him as a hero, he said. Hardcastle blames much of the response on the media’s tendency to report sound bites instead of detailed stories about issues.He said producers tried to entice him to speak on area news shows by asking him if he wanted his 15 minutes of fame.That’s b.s., Hardcastle said. Then again, he doesn’t figure news coverage will change as long stations continue selling soap.Hardcastle said people need to recognize the rescue showed the best of their community that exists all around them, every day. The true heros, he said, can be found in themselves.It’s easy to look back at the thing as an isolated event, but I’ve seen this community pull together in other places … the community takes the neighbor function to upper levels, he said.Hardcastle said he accepted the medal and employee award with reservation – and with the promise he would turn down any similar accolade that comes his way.I don’t need the money, my wife works good. I’m just doing this for the service, Hardcastle said. When he works the neighborhoods of Island County, he said, he’s fulfilling his part of the human race.You just go out and do your job. “