The car hit Rios, tossing his body four feet into the air, and when the canine officer landed, headfirst, his leg was wedged between the license plate reader and the bollard. Rios' injuries were extensive and life threatening.

In that same instant, life also changed dramatically for Customs Inspector Gerry White, Rios' co-worker and lifelong friend. Like Rios, White was working on the Del Rio International Bridge, attempting to clear northbound traffic, when he saw the port runner's car hit his friend. White ran to Rios, his number one priority to save the officer's life.

White, an intermediate paramedic with the Army National Guard's 49th Armored Division, knew he had to put everything else aside and focus on stopping the bleeding and stabilizing Rios until the ambulance arrived. "I took off, yelling 'Officer down!', says White. "I ran into the headhouse and called 911 for an ambulance," Less than a minute later, White was back at his friend's side, armed with 13 years of paramedic experience.

"I guess the training just kicked in," explains White. "The paramedic training played a very crucial role in Rick's survival."

It was a harrowing sight.

"His right leg was partially amputated, just held on by skin," White says. "I applied pressure to the femoral artery."

When direct pressure failed to stop the bleeding, Immigration Inspector Ed Silva took off his belt and White used it to set a tourniquet. Immigration inspectors Sam Chavez and Lupe Vargas pulled the tourniquet tight. The bleeding stopped, but it was clear to all the men that even though the tourniquet had stopped the bleeding, its application might also have increased the chances that Rios would lose his leg.

"I'm still having nightmares about that tourniquet," says White. "Life over limb. It cost him a limb but you are saving his life."

White moved closer to Rios. Silva cut Rios' gun belt off, then pulled his radio off as well. He peeled the bleeding man's shirt away so White could look for wounds to the torso. Rios was lucky in that regard- his mid-torso looked okay. But he was still bleeding from the face, and the socket bone from his left wrist was exposed.

White applied direct pressure to Rios' left wrist and was able to stop the bleeding, then he applied direct pressure to the lacerations in the head.

By the time the ambulance arrived, thanks to White's quick lifesaving efforts and the efforts of the other men on the bridge, Rios was nearly ready for transport.

Paramedics stabilized Rios' neck with a c-clamp brace, and still assisted by White and the others, navigated Rios onto a spine board and stretcher. The oxygen mask paramedics had placed on Rios' face wasn't working, so White operated the bag valve mask as the medics loaded Rios into the ambulance. When they turned on the red light and siren, five minutes had passed from the time the crew had first arrived on the site.

The ambulance took Rios to a local hospital, where doctors indicated that Rios' best chance turned on their ability to transport him by helicopter to a San Antonio hospital for treatment. "That wasn't possible, though," says Supervisory Customs Inspector Keith Fleckenstein. " Intense winds, rain, and flooding near San Antonio made helicopter transport too dangerous." Eventually, Rios was transported by ambulance to Hondo, Texas (114 miles east of Del Rio), and from there, airlifted to San Antonio.

Rios' recovery is continuing. He remains unconscious, but seems aware that his friends and family are there. And the support Rios needs came quickly: his family received a call at the hospital from Commissioner Robert Bonner. The Roger Von Amelunxen Foundation has helped to offset expenses. An Employee Assistance Program team has provided counseling to the family and to officers on the scene.

Supervisor Fleckenstein notes that the incident had a powerful effect on everyone who witnessed it. "It made me sick to my stomach that night," he explains, adding that the driver swerved from one lane to the other at the last second in what appeared to be a deliberate attempt to hit Officer Rios.

The violator in this case, Reymundo Avalos III, 28, was repatriated from Mexico and taken for an initial appearance before a federal magistrate on a charge of assault on a federal officer. Avalos waived his detention hearing and remains in federal custody. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The incident has touched the community as well. Max Perales, a local marathon runner who has qualified for the New York City marathon said he would dedicate his race to Inspector Rios. A ceremony in Del Rio City Hall commemorating the effort drew officials from U.S. Customs and other Federal Inspection Service agencies.

As for White, he's taking things day-by-day and is thankful the training he received as a combat medic helped save one of our own. White completed a 10-month course reclassifying first responders as intermediate medics only two weeks before the incident. His experience as a paramedic had taken him into a lot of situations where he'd been able to help people he'd never met, but the port running incident struck closer to home. "This one hurts," he says. "I've known Rios since I was 10."