MADAWASKA – Three young men from Madawaska who saved the life of an 83-year-old woman 14 months ago have been honored for their efforts by the Maine Chiefs of Police Association.

Brothers Thomas and Todd Levesque and their friend Michael Lavertu received the group’s Humanitarian Award earlier this month at the its winter meeting in South Portland.

The trio was nominated by Madawaska Police Chief Ronald Pelletier and Aroostook County Sheriff James P. Madore.

“For as long as I can remember, this is the first time someone from up here gets the award,” Pelletier said Wednesday. “It’s good that deeds such as theirs get recognized.”

Thomas Levesque, 21, and Lavertu, 21, were at the southern Maine ceremony to receive their awards. Todd Levesque, 22, who is in the armed services and now lives in San Diego, Calif., and could not make the ceremony, will receive his award from his brother.

In their nomination, Pelletier and Madore wrote, “[These] three young men, by their actions and deeds undoubtedly saved the life of 83-year-old Josephine Cyr of Madawaska.”

They said the three men “unselfishly gave of themselves for the benefit of another’s well-being.”

“They more than meet the criteria for the Humanitarian Award,” Pelletier and Madore summed up.

The three men were on their way home Dec. 20, 2001, when they found Cyr lying on the side of the road, dressed only in a nightgown.

No one knew how long she had been out with no shoes, hat or gloves, but temperatures had dipped to 18 degrees Fahrenheit that night, and the wind chill factor made it feel like 9. Doctors said at the time that another half-hour in the cold could have killed the octogenarian.

Cyr spent eight days in two hospitals and some time in rehabilitative care before returning to her home.

The Madawaska trio had used a different route to get to Lavertu’s home that night and came across Cyr, who was lying on her side along Fifth Avenue in Madawaska.

Thinking they shouldn’t move her, the men wrapped Cyr in their jackets and went for assistance. While they waited, they kept the woman talking to keep her conscious.

Family members said at the time that Cyr was taking new medications and may have become disoriented.

The three men found no footprints at the scene, but two lines in freshly fallen snow showed that Cyr had crawled from her Fourth Avenue home to where she was found.

The award was among five given annually by the Maine Chiefs of Police.