COLORADO, USA — Looking back on March 12, 2020, Jennifer Lehman and Janell Nichols focus on the big picture.
“There was a lot of media coverage, but you were just so focused on the response that you almost forgot that there was anybody else around," Nichols said.
Nichols, an infection preventionist with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), and Lehman, a CDC epidemiologist based in Fort Collins, helped run the state's first drive-up COVID-19 testing site.
“We were basically looking to see if the participants had doctors’ notes," Lehman said. "That was the criteria when we first started.”
The two were so busy moving from car to car; they didn't notice the camera lens pointed in their direction.
“I figured I might be in some of the coverage, but I never expected to be front and center," Lehman said.
As the pair in PPE walked side-by-side with clipboards in their hands, a photographer snapped a photo. He captured the women in stride together as their blues gowns blew sideways in the wind.
The women didn't know about the photo until Lehman turned on the news that night.
"I had seen my picture pop up and was like, 'hey, that was me!'” Lehman said.
Nichols said Lehman texted her about their unexpected cameo.
“Thank goodness you can’t tell it’s me!" Nichols said. "Ironically, I don’t like being in the spotlight.”
The photo from Getty Images spread far and wide and circulated long after that warm day in March.
“I didn’t realize that many outlets had picked it up," Lehman said.
The image aired on local news and a national morning show, the pair said. Eventually, a medical technology company bought the rights to use the photo in a print ad. As part of the contract, Lehman and Nichols were offered $2500 each.
“Since we’re government employees, we cannot accept the money, so they ever-so-graciously decided to donate to charities of our choice," Lehman said.
Since then, the photo popped up on the CDC social media pages.
“It definitely is a great action shot," Lehman said, looking at the blown-up version of the photo her husband gifted her for Mother's Day.
Nichols plans to get her own copy, too.
"I never anticipated anything like this would happen," Nichols said. "[I] was just doing my job."
Each time the iconic image pops up, Lehman and Nichols picture how life has changed since last March.
"It just makes me think back that this has been almost a year that we’ve been doing this, and hopefully, the end is getting closer in our reach as more people get vaccinated," Lehman said.
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