SIERRA VISTA —  It was just after midnight when  Jacqueline Hunt was driving on Interstate 35-West near downtown Fort Worth, Texas.

Even though she’s part Irish, she was the designated driver after St. Patrick’s Day festivities in 2005, and two of her friends who had enjoyed the event were in the car.

Driving in the inner-right lane northbound on the interstate — there were two more lanes to her left — Hunt saw something flying toward the front of her vehicle.

“A body landed in front of my vehicle,” she said of that Friday morning.

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It was the start of an event for which the Army recently honored her.

Pulling the emergency brake, “I knew I couldn’t stop just using the regular brakes,” Hunt stopped the car just before running over a 24-year-old man.

Fortunately, her car wasn’t rear-ended, as traffic was fairly light.

After telling her two friends to remain in the car, she got out and went to the man and saw he was bleeding badly.

Her training as a soldier came to the forefront.

For some time, there was no traffic heading north. Hunt quickly carried the injured man across two lanes on to the median, ran back to her vehicle drove it off the right side of the highway, again telling her friends to remain in the car while she called 911 and then ran back to the injured man.

She doesn’t remember how long it took.

“I don’t know how I carried him,” she said, describing him as 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighing more than 200 pounds.

The man’s injuries were severe.

“His face was crushed,” she noted, adding she had to clear his airway.

Fortunately, she did not perform CPR on him. She later learned he had crushed ribs and doing the procedure would have made the situation worse.

Soon traffic increased as Hunt worked on the man close to the roadway, her life in danger.

The driver of an 18-wheeler eventually arrived and pulled his truck into the far right lane to act as a buffer, allowing her to keep providing medical care.

Using combat lifesaving knowledge she learned before going to Iraq in 2003 as a private first class, Hunt knew the victim was in bad shape.

“He had a traumatic wound to the back of his head. I felt his skull through an open wound,” she said. She used her jacket to help stem the flow of blood.

Another man approached and asked if the victim, apparently his friend, was all right.

That man then fled, which to this day Hunt cannot understand.

About 10 minutes after calling 911, law enforcement and medical personnel arrived and took over.

As far as Hunt knew, her work as a good Samaritan was over. After answering questions, she left the area.

But her actions were not forgotten. The father of the victim, who was not at the scene, found out about her. When he learned she was a reservist, he reported her actions to the Army.

That started the process that led to Hunt being awarded the Soldier’s Medal for her actions.

The medal is awarded to soldiers who distinguish themselves by a heroic actions, not involving conflict with an enemy, but in which the soldier puts his or her life in danger to save another’s life.

On Aug. 22, Staff Sgt. Jacqueline Hunt was presented the Soldier’s Medal at a Fort Bragg, N.C., ceremony by the deputy commander of the Army Reserve Command as the commander of the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command watched.

Hunt is a reservist who at the time of the incident was a member of the 490th Civil Affairs out of Abilene, Texas. She is now assigned to the 492nd Civil Affairs in Phoenix.

She was taught basic combat lifesaving skills before deploying as a young Reserve soldier who was activated in 2003 and went into Ramadi, Iraq, working in civil affairs.

During the deployment, she met her future husband, Sgt. Sean Knowles, also a reservist, in Ramadi. They have been married for two years.

The couple moved to Sierra Vista two years ago, where they work for contractors supporting Fort Huachuca. She initially worked for Perot Systems, but now is employed by NCI Inc. He is employed by Oberon.

Looking back on that March day in 2005, Hunt said she would have never thought her Army training would be used in a civilian situation.

But, for some reason, all she was taught came flooding back to help her assist the victim.

Some time after the accident, she met the man, who was three years older than her — Hunt was 21 at the time and today is 24 — at the hospital.

During the emotional turmoil of the situation, she had picked up the victim’s wallet and other possessions.

She wanted to return them to him. After tracking down his whereabouts, she made arrangements to do that.

The man and his father were waiting for her.

Everyone was crying, Hunt said.

It was then that Hunt learned the victim had been standing in front of his car when it was struck from behind. His vehicle then hit him, sending him sailing backward.

The victim, whose name she did not share, was a tennis instructor and semiprofessional. The last she heard, he was back playing tennis.

As for being presented the Soldier’s Medal, it was only a short time before the awards ceremony that she was officially told she was going to be the recipient of the award.

Recalled to active duty from her Reserve status for four days, Hunt flew back to North Carolina for the ceremony.

But remembering the accident scene and how things quickly moved that night, Hunt said she still looks back on it as “a really emotional experience.”

Herald/Review senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.