As Conor Branson, Jordan Lavender and Elle Martin worked feverishly to help free a truck driver's leg from under a pile of telephone poles, the trio of University of Charleston student-athletes could hear the engine of the wrecked semi pop as it lay on a two-lane road in northern Ohio.
They knew the engine could blow at any time on that August day. Yet every time they stepped away from the flames, they dove back in to try and save a man's life.
Branson and Lavender, both members of the UC men's soccer team, and Martin, a member of the women's rowing team, were just breaking up a road trip to shop at an outlet mall. The driver, Garrick Lewis, considers it the best decision the three ever made.
The trio were honored at UC on Thursday afternoon by the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Sgt. Kent Jeffries, the officer on duty that day, said their work saved Lewis' life.
"It's one thing to be in danger," Jeffries said. "It's another thing to know you're in danger and go back into the danger in order to save a man's life. I think that's just heroic."
The three had been visiting friends in northern Michigan and were heading back to UC on Aug. 9, when they decided to take a detour to the outlet mall in Jeffersonville, Ohio. Lewis was driving toward them, hauling new telephone poles, when his truck toppled over. Lewis was thrown 30 feet in front of the crash and his foot got stuck in a pile of poles, his hip broken in four places.
After their car stopped, the three jumped out and ran toward the crash. They found Lewis stuck and the truck's engine aflame. The idea of staying clear of the fire never crossed their minds.
"You don't really think about it at the time," Branson said. "People say now, 'Yeah, I might have thought about it,' but at the time, you're just running over trying to help any way you can."
Every couple of minutes, the truck's engine would spurt out a warning that it could explode.
"You could hear the gas popping," Lavender said. "We knew it was going to blow, so it was kind of a case of let's get him out of there as quick as we can."
Three other motorists stopped to help. One helped loosen Lewis' boot and pull his foot free. Two more were waiting with a pickup truck to speed them away from the crash.
As they were driving away, the truck's engine exploded.
While moving away from the blast, it hit the three just how narrowly they averted disaster. Martin said just one thought ran through her head: "Thank God."
Jeffries soon arrived at the scene, along with emergency medical personnel. Once the three UC student-athletes saw the situation was under control, they climbed back in the car to finish their excursion - a trip to Wendy's, followed by some shopping.
They never made a big deal about their heroics. UC officials didn't find out until months later, when Ohio officers called them to figure out a way to honor the trio.
It was no small feat in Lewis' eyes. The 25-year-old Alabama resident wanted to attend the ceremony, but his injuries kept him from traveling. He wrote a letter letting the three know just how important their acts were.
"I knew laying on the ground that I couldn't move and was going to burn," Lewis wrote. "All I could think about was that my wife wasn't going to have a husband, and that my two kids, which are now 2 and 3 years old, were not going to have a father.
"You guys don't understand how much I've been wanting to say, 'thank you,' personally," he continued. "I've thought about that day and the people who have saved me constantly from then until now, because they didn't hesitate to save me from the fire."
Branson and Lavender, both natives of England, and Martin, from Las Cruces, New Mexico, all are grateful for the appreciation they've received from Lewis, their school and law enforcement. They never sought it, though. They're just happy a husband and father could return to his family.
"Just knowing that he was safe was good enough for us," Martin said.
Reach Derek Redd at derek.redd@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1712 or follow @derekredd on Twitter.