A Georgia police officer and two bystanders saved a mother and her son who were trapped inside a burning SUV on Wednesday.
The incident happened at about 8:30 a.m. when Rome police responded to a three-vehicle crash, the Rome News Tribune reports. An SUV in the crash began to smoke with Samantha Bostick and her child, Liam, still inside.
Officer Dow Turrentine, who was helping another officer with a nearby traffic stop, saw the crash and rushed over. He immediately turned his attention to the SUV, which had flames beginning to engulf it.
Turrentine was joined by two bystanders, and they quickly tried to get Bostick and her son out of the burning vehicle. Just as the mom and son were pulled from the SUV, it was swallowed by flames.
"It was pretty crazy… but sometimes you have to man up,” said Christopher Jones, one of the bystanders who helped. “I was happy the little boy was good, he just had a little bump on his head. It was a blessing.”
Bostick and her son were rushed to the hospital, where Bostick underwent knee surgery. The boy was treated and released.
“Although the personnel we employ as representatives of the Rome Police Department are trained to respond and react in dangerous and life-threatening situations such as the accident described, we still are amazed and grateful for the immediate call-to-action and level of response that our officers present,” the department said in a statement.
