The Arizona Department of Transportation recently awarded its highest honor, the Medal of Valor, to six highway maintenance technicians based at the agency’s Gila Bend facility for saving a woman from drowning.
[Above photo by Arizona DOT]
Jennifer Toth, Arizona DOT’s director, presented the awards on September 17 to the six men – Ray Ruiz, John Gardner, Antonio Trejo Martinez, Salvador Mata Jr., Larry Ortega, and David Robledo – and praised their quick thinking and fast action when they heard a distant cry for help early August 6.
The men followed the sound until they found the woman clinging to a tire floating in a nearby canal, then linked themselves together to form a human chain to quickly extract her from the swiftly flowing waters.
“Once the woman was safely out of the water, John Gardner literally gave her the shirt off his own back so she’d have something dry to wear,” Toth noted in a statement. “If that doesn’t symbolize their selflessness, generosity, and willingness to help others, I don’t know what does.”
She added that, after the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office arrived to assist the woman, the men resumed their regular duties for the day.
“Though their quiet, everyday actions may not get as much fanfare, their efforts to keep Arizona’s roads maintained also help save lives and keep people safe,” Toth said.
“This team’s integrity, whether it is on or off the clock, is an exquisite example that good people in the world still exist,” added Cameron Mendoza, Arizona DOT’s Gila Bend highway operations technician supervisor.
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