THE AIR FORCE ACHIEVEMENT MEDAL

 

U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Troy May, 62d Aircraft Maintenance Squadron heavy aircraft integrated avionics specialist, holds his Air Force Achievement Medal at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, Sept. 13, 2024. May received this commendation after carrying a woman who had just broken and dislocated her ankle the majority of 1.6 miles down a steep hiking trail and assisting her to a hospital.

To read the complete article, see:
Airman rescues 79-year-old woman during hiking accident (https://www.mcchord.af.mil/news/photos/igphoto/2003544642/)

Bannister arrived at the trail around 11 a.m. and made her way to the lookout. As she headed back down, she made a misstep, and her foot got caught on a hole in the ground. She fell forward.

"By the time I sat up, my foot was pointing the wrong way. I knew right away I had broken my leg," she said. "I tried to get up with my hiking pole and it collapsed on me."

Bannister cried out for help, and before long, a stranger approached and called 911. They were told a search and rescue team would arrive in five hours.

But two young men at the lookout came over to see what was going on. When they saw Bannister on the ground in agony, they immediately made an offer: They could carry Bannister to the bottom of the trail.

Troy May, a U.S. Air Force Airman stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, was at the lookout that day with his fiancé and a friend who was visiting from New Mexico.

"I knew I was capable of carrying her down," said May, 20. "I really didn't make much of a decision, I just knew I needed to carry her down if I could."

May eased Bannister onto his back and started hiking downward. He carried her for most of the nearly three-hour journey, and his friend, Layton Allen, carried her for the rest.

A physical therapist bandaged Bannister before they headed down the trail and built a makeshift splint for her leg out of wooden scraps, and an occupational therapist did breathing exercises with her to help calm her.

"I was just overwhelmed with gratitude that these people literally came out of the woods to help me and they were totally unselfish and kind," she said.

To read the complete article, see:
Woman, 79, fell while hiking. A stranger carried her for hours on his back. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2024/09/25/grandmother-hike-injured-airman-may/)

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