A New Bern Marine has been awarded the Navy-Marine Corps Commendation Medal after he saved the life of a man who was hit by a car in Vanceboro in May.

According to officials with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, U.S. Marine Corps 1st Sgt. Jefferson Ortiz, 38, was driving with his wife on Highway 43 when he noticed that traffic in front of him was coming to a halt and people were gathered in a field.

Ortiz immediately pulled over, told his wife to dial 911, and moved toward the crowd of people.

“Everything that I saw led me to believe that someone needed help,” Ortiz was quoted as saying in a Facebook post. “And that the people who were there did not understand, or were not comfortable with, providing that help. I figured that if I could make my way over there, see what was going on, and assess the situation to see if there was anything that I could do to help somebody. I wanted to do that.”

A man walking back up his driveway after checking his mail had been hit by a car going more than 60 mph and thrown into a nearby field. Officials said he was bleeding severely with a severe leg fracture and had a weak pulse.

Ortiz thought, “I need to put a tourniquet on this leg as soon as possible.” He used a belt and stick to create a makeshift tourniquet that stopped the profuse bleeding.

Ortiz also noticed the man had severely labored, shallow breathing and blood coming out of his mouth and discovered the man’s front teeth had been knocked in from the impact and were settled in his throat. He fished them out, along with some other debris, and the man’s breathing improved and he was taking gasps of air.

Ortiz also helped emergency medical services when they arrived on the scene

The medal is awarded to Marines and Sailors who distinguish themselves by heroic or meritorious achievement or service.