Teamwork.

At about 4:30 p.m. on August 20, a minivan driven by Virginia Martin veered off a road in Muskegon, Michigan. It hit a power pole, plunged down a hill, and caught fire.

Someone who witnessed the mishap called the Muskegon County Sheriff's Office. Deputy Jamie Ottinger arrived at the scene within minutes and soon discovered that Martin was still trapped inside the burning vehicle.

Steven Chvala of Holton, on his way home from his job, drove by and noticed the deputy scurrying down the hill. Chvala recalled for the October 2 Muskegon Chronicle: "I knew something was bad because the power pole was snapped. I could see in his eyes as he was going down it was something bad." Pulling over, Chvala jumped from his car and also rushed down the hill.

Conscious but dazed, Martin was trapped by her seat belt. The side doors were jammed and would not open, and it required the combined efforts of Ottinger and Chvala to eventually open the van, pull her through a window, and carry her up the hill to safety.

Martin was hospitalized in critical condition with injuries that included a punctured lung, two broken wrists, and a fractured nose. She required two blood transfusions, but she survived and is currently recovering at her home. She told the Chronicle, "If everything hadn't gone the way it did, I wouldn't be here." She describes Ottinger and Chvala as her guardian angels, saying, "They went way above and beyond. They took their lives into their hands. I'm so grateful."

Martin was delighted when she learned that the sheriff's office planned to formally honor her rescuers. Following the brief ceremony in front of the sheriff's office on October 1, she effused, "I just wanted to keep hugging them."

Deputy Ottinger told the Chronicle, "It's kind of unreal. She's telling us, 'You saved my life.' I'm just glad things worked out. It was the right place at the right time." During the ceremony he received a plaque, and a blue and gold pin that was affixed to his uniform by his wife and a fellow deputy. It is only the second time the office has given the award.

As for Chvala, he denies that he did anything exceptional, claiming, "I just stopped to help. I didn't expect any of this." Undersheriff Dean Roesler, however, is quick to note that "Without his help, things may not have [turned] out as good as they did. We really appreciate him stepping up and showing what acting like a citizen is all about."