'I Couldn't Leave Him Behind': Pennsylvania Man Jumps Into Action, Saves Police Officer From Burning Car
FAYETTE COUNTY, Pa. (KDKA) -- A Fayette County man is being credited with saving the life of a police officer after he helped pull the officer from a burning car.
On Sunday, the police officer was flown to a hospital in Morgantown, W. Va. after a two-vehicle accident in Uniontown on East Fayette Street.
Daylan McLee was at a family Father's Day cookout when he looked outside and saw the police officer pinned to the ground by his cruiser following the crash.
"I know this man is my brother through Christ, and I couldn't leave him behind," McLee told KDKA. "There were people outside screaming. We felt it in the house. It was like a jolt."
Bystanders say in the moment, McLee had Herculean strength, dragging the police officer from the car before it caught fire.
McLee says he had one thought.
"I haven't had the best past with law enforcement, just to know there's still good people out there," McLee said.
Officer Jay Hanley of the Uniontown Police Department was in the mangled car and is expected to make a full recovery.
Hanley's family and the city say they're grateful and credit McLee with saving the police officer's life.
"That was a horrific accident that happened, it was bad," Uniontown Mayor Bill Gerke said. "But something good came from it."
While the nation has been gripped with tensions between police and communities, McLee and his father say the message to be a helper is clear.
"To teach humanity, teach children that it's OK to reach out to officers. Not all of them are bad, not all people are bad," McLee said.
"Showed his true character, he showed he's a true man," said McLee's father, Derrick Snyder. "He loves people, he has heart, he believes in humanity. He believes in change."
A little boy who recognized McLee on Monday stopped to hand him a bracelet that reads "The Kindness Revolution."
Uniontown police are asking for prayers for officer Hanley and the other driver.
