When four members of Boy Scout Troop 342 in Lakewood planned a weekend trip last summer to earn their backpacking merit badges, they didn't plan on becoming heroes.

But that's what happened to teenagers Lance Hoggatt, Andrew Cameron and brothers Justin and Jonathan Hart.

The boys were honored Oct. 20 and presented with the National Heroism Lifesaving Award from the Boy Scouts of America and the Denver Area Council for saving a young woman's life during their camping trip to the Rawah Wilderness area west of Fort Collins.

"I thought it was ironic because we hiked extra miles so we could stop and go fishing at Camp Lake. If we hadn't stopped there, we wouldn't have run into the Richards family," said Justin.

Colorado State University student Amy Richards and her father and brother also were hiking that weekend, but Amy became so ill she couldn't walk.

The scouts fashioned a stretcher out of tree limbs, a tarp and duct tape, carried her to a lower elevation and stayed with her through the night while her father and brother walked to get help. The next day she was rescued by helicopter and spent more than two weeks in the hospital, a victim of acute renal failure. She has since recuperated.

Lance Hoggatt said, "I think we did all we could."

Justin said, "You already know as a Boy Scout your job is to be prepared. That was basically the situation. It was an organized chaos. When you see something happening like this, you are working as a group effort for one goal."

Jonathan said "It was something we had trained for. It was cool we got to use what we learned."

Hoggatt's mother Susan said, "They are all really good kids. I don't know that you see a lot of this going on anymore."

Amy's father Randy attended the ceremony. The boys said the award was very prestigious. The award ceremony was part of a Century of Values tour to kick off the Boy Scouts 100th anniversary in 2010.