A group of 11 bystanders, including a state transportation worker, pulled off to the side of Interstate 94 and ran to the aid of a man whose vehicle had become engulfed in flames following a road traffic accident in St. Paul, Minnesota, last week.
The dramatic rescue was captured on a 90-second video taken from a camera in Kadir Tolla’s vehicle. In the video, the Good Samaritans can be seen running to the car, one with a fire extinguisher in hand, desperately trying to open the vehicle’s doors and beat back the growing flames.
Eventually, the state transportation worker shatters the driver’s side window, allowing the rescuers to extract the man from the car. Mr. Obrovich, 71, regained consciousness and was pulled to safety around 6:30 p.m. on April 18 with superficial minor injuries.
“I am alive today because several Good Samaritans and professional first responders saved my life,” Mr. Obrovich said in a statement through his office. “Fred Rogers used to say that whenever someone sees something scary, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping’”.
The statement continued: “As an attorney who has represented caregivers in Minnesota for over 40 years, it comes as no surprise when well-trained professionals snap into action to save someone’s life or keep them out of harm’s way.
“But it is incredibly heroic when people driving down the highway choose to put themselves at risk by running toward the flames to extract a stranger from a burning car that could explode at any moment.
“My family and I are incredibly grateful for these heroes…I look forward to thanking them all in person”.
Speaking to The Washington Post, Mr. Tolla, 35, said he was numb when responding to help Mr. Obrovich escape the flames.
“I decided to park the car and get out and try to help,” he said. “There was a man in there who couldn’t run away from the fire.”
He confirmed that none of the people who helped knew the attorney.
“All we knew was that there was a human in that car and we decided to get to action,” he said.
