Eastern New Mexico players lift truck off pinned, dying man, and save his life

Eastern New Mexico University defensive lineman Chevy Mikaele and outside linebacker Ben Langford are being called heroes after lifting a truck off a man outside of their church last Wednesday evening.

According to NBC affiliate KOB4, the two players were in church when they heard a cry for help. They ran outside to see a man across the street pinned underneath his truck. Pastor Johnny Pacheco told the television station the truck was on the man’s chest, crushing him.

Mikaele and Langford, followed by several other members of the church, raced over to the truck, lifted it two feet in the air and pulled the man out. However, when they rescued him, they thought he was dead.

“When I dragged him out, he wasn’t breathing at all,” Pacheco told the station. “We looked for a pulse, but there was no pulse that we could find.”

The man, who was identified as John Riley, was eventually resuscitated. He was fixing his truck when it switched gears and rolled on top of him. Riley is currently in the hospital with a cracked spine fighting for his life.

Both players told the news station they actually had no plans to go to the church that evening after practice, that they usually go home, but they believe they were led there so they could help Riley.

“I believe that if God didn’t have us placed here, and if he wasn’t able to give the strength to these men, he would have died under that vehicle,” said Pacheco.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday

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