Airmen on hiking trip rescue lifeless pregnant woman and her group after flash flood strikes

ST. GEORGE, Utah (KVVU/Gray News) - U.S. airmen rescued a group of people who got caught in a flash flood while hiking at a national park earlier this month.

According to the National Park Service, seven airmen from Nellis Air Force Base came across the group while hiking a popular trail at Zion National Park.

Airman Will Martin spotted the nearby river rising as a flash flood was coming their way shortly before they saw a woman in the water floating on her back “who appeared battered, blue, and lifeless.”

According to the Air Force base, airman Demarcus Norman pulled the woman to shore who was barely responsive for an hour as the team called for help.

The team said they were informed the woman was also pregnant and quickly moved to an evacuation area. They reunited her with the rest of her group and were able to be airlifted to safety.

Martin and Norman along with Maximos Olade, Jacob Stillwell, Rony Lopez-Aguilar, Andres Parra and Christian Reyes were honored Monday by the Air Force for their actions that day.

The U.S. airmen represented the Air Force’s core values of “Integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do,” officials said.