PHOENIX — Six employees with the Arizona Department of Transportation were awarded medals of valor for saving a woman from a canal in early August, according to ADOT.

Gila Bend maintenance technicians Antonio Trejo Martinez, Salvador Mata Jr., Larry Ortega, David Robledo, John Gardner and Ray Ruiz were all honored on Wednesday after they formed a human chain to rescue the woman from a canal full of rapidly-moving water.

A medal of valor is ADOT’s highest honor for its workers, and Jennifer Toth, its director, presented the distinctive medallions and framed certificates.

“Once the woman was safely out of the water, (Gardner) literally gave her the shirt off his own back so she’d have something dry to wear,” Toth said in the release. “If that doesn’t symbolize their selflessness, generosi

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