Washington State Patrol Trooper Tommie Pillow is a big man.

But that didn’t account for much when he was lying on his back in the middle of a freeway, with drivers bearing down on him at high speed.

Pillow, a former Marine and 31-year veteran of the Washington State Patrol, had pulled over a speeder on State Route 520 about a mile from Redmond at 10 a.m. on Feb. 23. He had just written her a ticket (his 24th in just two hours) when he spotted another violator.

He took two locked turns before heading off in pursuit. His rear wheel slipped on fluid and Pillow lost control of his motorcycle. He skittered and spun across two lanes of traffic in a section of highway where drivers routinely go 70 mph or faster.

His leg was badly injured and he was what looked like miles from the relative safety of the shoulder. Before he even had time to properly register how much danger he was in, two Good Samaritans had pulled their truck over to the accident, blocking traffic and saving Pillow from further harm.

“With all the stuff we see today, here’s two guys who could have breezed by me on their way to work, like other cars did,” Pillow said. “It doesn’t happen often.”

Pillow said the two heroes, Redmond residents Nathan Redman and Jason Cullen, not only blocked traffic, but pulled him and his bike to the side of the road and made sure the trooper would be alright until a sergeant made it out to him.

“They took off and I realized I hadn’t even gotten their names,” he said. “I get home and (Pillow’s wife) Pam said ‘well we’re going to track them down.'”

The next day, through Redman’s father — a veteran of emergency services — Pillow found the two men, who operate a metal fabrication shop in Redmond.

The two were honored at the Washington State Patrol District 2 headquarters in Bellevue this week, with Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste giving the men the Chief’s Coin, a special symbolic coin which reflects the patrol’s motto of “Service With Humility” and honors the 29 troopers who have lost their lives in service.

“As a former motor officer myself, I sincerely appreciate what you two did out there,” Batiste said.

Cullen and Redman hadn’t even considered the implications of what they had done.

“After the fact, it was kind of weird how quickly we reacted to the situation,” Cullen said. “We didn’t even think about it. We do think everyone is making a bigger deal out of this than we were, which is kind of funny.”

For Redman, his response was automatic.

“You folks keep us safe every single day,” he said to the troopers at the award ceremony. “I know we look like a couple of rough-and-tumble guys, but we appreciate what you do and I have so much respect for you.”

That chilly February morning was especially poignant for the troopers, as many of the District 2 troopers were at a memorial honoring Washington State Patrol Trooper Tony Radulescu, who was murdered while performing his duty at a traffic stop on that date in 2012.

“If these two did not respond quickly, it may have been some time before we could have responded,” Batiste said.

Another motor officer, Trooper Greg Ulrich, was struck by a vehicle on Interstate 5 while at a traffic stop just six days previously. Ulrich was in good condition at Harborview, but it provided a stark reminder to troopers state-wide about the danger of their job.

Since the inception of the Washington State Patrol in 1921, 29 officers have been killed while on duty due to traffic strikes and murders.

Trooper Chris Webb, public information officer for the patrol, said people can easily save lives by just paying attention to the road.

“There is a law in place which requires anybody who sees an emergency vehicle on the side of the road to move over, to the left or the right,” he said. “People are not doing that. In some cases, people do see the vehicles and still are driving distracted.”

According to Webb, dozens of patrol cars have been damaged by distracted drivers who, while eating or texting, have struck the side of the emergency vehicle.

In the past month, there have been two fatalities in Washington when drivers struck a stalled vehicle on the shoulder of a highway, he said.

Luckily for Pillow, it is difficult to miss a massive black Ford 350 blocking two lanes of traffic.

Pillow offered a token of his own to Redman and Cullen, giving them a motor officer challenge coin, a symbol of fraternal bond stemming from World War Two.

“I can’t thank them enough for what they did,” he said. “I definitely thought I was going to get run over. My leg still hurts, but that’s the way it goes.”

As for the heroes, Cullen said he was already planning on making a frame for the two coins. Redman had other concerns.

“I don’t think we indicated before we jumped over four lanes of traffic,” he said. “I hope that’s not incriminating myself.”