AMHERST, Va. – Five Amherst county deputies received lifesaving awards on Monday.
Last month, Sgt. S.W. Martin and three others were on the scene of a bad car accident on Route 29 in Amherst.
First responders say a head-on crash left a car engulfed in flames.
One driver was ejected from the car, and the other was trapped.
Martin said he arrived on scene first and put a tourniquet on the driver’s leg of the Ford pickup truck. Martin kept him from losing any more blood. That man eventually lost his leg.
Another deputy held the neck of the other driver in the four-door sedan to keep him breathing until paramedics arrived.
Both drivers survived.
"Just knowing that the community recognizes what you do, it does make you feel like you did something to touch somebody's life,” Martin said.
Sgt. Micah Stephens was also recognized for bringing a heart attack victim back to life.