Two men jumped in to help the victim of a traffic collision in the South Bay Thursday with one of the drivers sacrificing his own vehicle in the process.
Ernesto Marquez showed NBC 7 his pickup truck that was dented and burned where a Hyundai slammed into him.
Traffic was stalled along the southbound lanes of Interstate 805 just after 11 a.m., not far from Telegraph Canyon Road.
Marquez said the Hyundai was cut off by another driver, lost control of the Hyundai, bounced off the median, crossed four lanes of traffic then hit the pickup.
"As soon as the car caught on fire the flames started spreading toward my truck,” he recalled.
Marquez said he was stunned but after a few seconds, he jumped in to help.
"I saw he was bleeding from his head he was unconscious," he said.
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Retired U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer Tyrone Crawford wasn’t involved in the collision but stopped to help.
“He is an elderly gentleman not responsive as far as a being able to move out of the car," Crawford told one of the news crews that responded to the crash site.
"When I saw the smoke we just ran over said we had to get him out," he said.
It was a risky save, but neither man hesitated.
“The paramedic even told us to get as far away as we can because maybe this thing can completely blow up," Marquez said.
The fire was extinguished and paramedics revived the man before taking him to UC San Diego Medical Center. The victim was identified as a 65-year-old man from Tijuana. His injuries are not considered life-threatening.
