Good Samaritan, Off-Duty Officer Save Woman From Burning Car
WOODSTOCK, Ill. (CBS) -- The McHenry County Sheriff's office says a good Samaritan and an off-duty officer came to the rescue of a woman whose car was on fire this morning.
It was just before 7 in the morning and the rain was pouring down, when 39-year-old Randy Ho heard the car crash outside his home in Woodstock, and saw that a woman was hurt.
He ran out and saw that an off-duty McHenry County Conservation District officer had stopped to help.
"He was trying to get her out of the car and couldn't get the doors open," he said. "And as I walked up I noticed the car was on fire. And I just basically went up and ripped the door open."
Woman Rescued From Burning Car
Ho said he's not sure if it was adrenaline at work, or what it was that allowed him to open the door and help take the woman to safety.
"She was extremely afraid. The one thing she kept saying was, 'Please don't let me burn to death in this car. Please don't let me die in here,'" Ho said.
Off-Duty Conservation District Officer Dan Hibbeler said he tried to calm the woman as they waited for paramedics.
"We had to get her away from the car, because it was burning," he said. "And I tried to keep her calm as much as I could."
The sheriff's office said the woman did not suffer life-threatening injuries.
Ho went to the hospital afterward, because the car fire had triggered an asthmatic reaction.
The sheriff's office said the woman driving the car had lost control and a school bus crashed into her. Only the driver was on the school bus, and the sheriff's office said she was treated at a hospital and released.
