When a teen collapsed with a broken tibia while running in a cross-country state-championship race, his teammate decided to hoist up his fellow athlete on his back instead of leaving him behind.
Every runner was trying his best to make his mark in the cross-country championship taking place in Utah. However, calamity struck Blake Lewis, a junior from Riverton, when he was racing with a high school senior Shaun Rausch.
All of a sudden, Lewis heard a snap from his leg during the race—it was actually his tibia which had gotten fractured during the event. The boy instantly fell to the ground and started screaming with all his might.
“At like 300 it started really hurting and then 200 I just heard my bone snap,” Lewis told Fox13.
“It was excruciating,” he said. “It was like no other pain I’ve ever felt.”
His mother Brooke Lewis was close enough to hear what sounded like a twig snapping. She said, “I have never actually heard him scream like that before.”
Seeing her son in agony, the mother was just about to run to him but stopped when she saw his teammate rushing towards him.
“I put him on my shoulders and he was screaming the whole way, but I kept telling him, ‘We’re a family, we’re a team, and we’re all in this together,’” said Rausch.
“He picked me up and brought me to the finish line and disqualified himself for something greater and definitely made my day,” Lewis said.
Despite Rausch’s noble act, both of them were disqualified from the race since the runners aren’t allowed to contact other runners during the race, according to the state championship rules.
Rausch, nevertheless, set his teammate on his feet just before they reached the finish line so Lewis could make it across on his own.
“As soon as I saw him, I gave him a big hug and told him he’s a hero to me,” Lewis said. To this, Rausch replied: “I’m not a hero, I’m just Lewis’s brother.”
Watch the heartwarming moment in the video below.