Heroic act
Man rescues woman before car bursts into flames
It’s a good thing Kevin Greene wasn’t feeling well Thursday afternoon.
The young man left work early and was at his Argyle Sound Road home when he heard a smash. Looking toward the road, he saw what he at first thought was dust – but then realized was smoke – coming from a crumpled vehicle at the end of his driveway.
“I hauled on my sneakers and ran down the driveway yelling, ‘hey, hey’!” he said.
The neighbour across the road came out as well to see what was going on.
Greene hollered at the female driver behind the steering wheel, telling her she had to get out. He believes shock was likely setting in as she refused, saying no, no, repeatedly.
“I don’t think she was grasping what was really going on,” he said.
He hauled on the front door but it was jammed. He then reached in the back and opened the door, releasing the seatbelt catch and recline lever for the front seat so he could pull her out that way.
Greene moved her into the yard a little ways from the car. But then he noticed the hood was now in flames and knew they had to get further back.
“Within three or four minutes the whole thing was engulfed,” he said.
“Anytime I picked her up I could tell the pain was just killing her. I tried to get her to put her arm around my neck so she could walk but I don’t think she could even do that because one of her feet was turned. I knew that one was broken. I scooped her up and she was still saying no.”
His neighbour went back inside and called 911.
“I was always told don’t move people in a crash because they could have internal bleeding but… well…. the other option was not good,” said Greene.
He says he hasn’t heard from the woman yet but he was hoping to check and see how she is doing.
Yarmouth County RCMP say the 32-year-old woman was transported by EHS paramedics to Yarmouth Regional Hospital and sustained non-life-threatening injuries. The Pubnico Fire Department responded to the single-vehicle crash. The investigation is ongoing.