Local

Good Samaritan describes pulling man from burning truck

GASTONIA, N.C. — Channel 9 spoke with a former Navy police officer who dove into a burning truck to save a stranger's life.

Matthew Hudson ran toward the truck minutes before these flames to help save the man trapped inside.

"It was in flames," Hudson said.

The driver of the truck was stuck in a ditch after crashing on Kendrick Road in Gastonia.

Hudson, public safety officer for a local hospital, was heading home from work.

As the flames shot from the engine, Hudson jumped into action.

"I saw a foot sticking up to the front windshield," Hudson said. "I then yelled at the guy and told him to be very still because the vehicle was unstable still at the time."

Hudson and another good Samaritan used another driver's fire extinguisher to try and put out the flames but the fire flared back up and Hudson knew time was running out.

"About that time, I noticed the fire was about to be out of control," Hudson said. "It had grown again so myself and another individual worked our way to the back window and forced open the sliding glass window and drug him out through it."

They pulled the man to the nearby road where they waited for rescuers.

The driver is of the truck is recovering Wednesday night.

The 26-year-old former Navy police officer and volunteer firefighter said he's no hero, just a man with compassion.

"I was just doing what an reasonable person should do," he said.

Firefighters said Hudson and three other people probably saved that man's life by their actions Tuesday night.

Read Tuesday night's article and watch raw video of firefighters dousing the truck's flames by clicking here.

To see more local news stories, click here.