Connecticut Schoolteacher Rescues Unconscious Driver From Burning Car

Storyful

A middle school teacher was praised by Connecticut firefighters after she pulled an unconscious driver from a burning vehicle on Thursday, February 23.

Manchester Fire Rescue EMS said Heather Sica Leonard, a teacher at Illing Middle School in Manchester, almost certainly saved the driver’s life.

The driver, John, has limited mobility and uses a wheelchair, Manchester Fire Rescue EMS said. “While driving his van down Main Street he smelled smoke, then moved a cup holder to find flames coming from his dash,” the department said, adding that he came to a stop on a highway ramp as his car became completely engulfed in flames. The fuel tank of his van had ruptured, causing a fire, the department said.

Leonard spotted the emergency unfolding on the highway ramp and stopped her car to help. “She immediately stopped, approached the burning vehicle and selflessly got John and his wheelchair out of the car and moved him to safety, all at great personal risk to injury,” the department said. “Her actions averted an almost certain fatal outcome and prevented anyone from being injured.”

Helmet camera provided by the Manchester Fire Rescue EMS shows firefighters responding to the scene on Thursday. Credit: Manchester Fire Rescue EMS via Storyful

Video transcript

[NO SPEECH]

Latest stories

  • Former Youth and Sports Ministry official facing 96 charges, to know court decision April 19

    KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 — The Sessions Court today set April 19 to deliver its decision on a former Youth and Sports Mini...

  • Grave mistake: Malaysian man drives his car straight into tombstone

    The Qing Ming Festival, which falls on Apr. 5 this year, has prompted families to begin cleaning the tombstones of their deceased loved ones ahead of time. During the festival, Chinese families visit the tombs of their ancestors to clean the gravesites and make ritual offerings to their ancestors. However, one family in Malaysia took…

  • Report: Contract doctors group threatens major strike, mass resignation

    KUALA LUMPUR, March 29 — A group of contract medical officers (MO) with the Ministry of Health that involves around 8,00...

  • Indonesian detainee allowed ‘jailbreak’ to hug daughter (VIDEO)

    KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 30 — It’s a scene that'll move you to tears — a detainee trying to hug his daughter through the bar...

  • Father stabbed to death at Vancouver Starbucks after asking man not to vape near his daughter

    ‘Every time I think about the situation I get this feeling in my chest which is pure fear,’ witness says

  • Sen. John Hickenlooper opens up about parental leave, IVF and having a new baby at 71: 'I'm like the proof that everybody has at least 1 more miracle inside them'

    The Colorado Democrat and his wife welcomed baby Jack in December 2022.

  • Rauf Yusoh to replace Sulaiman as Melaka chief minister?

    KUALA LUMPUR, March 29 — Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali could be replaced as Melaka chief minister just four months after be...

  • Jenn Chia successfully met Stephen Chow in Hong Kong

    The digital creator flew to Hong Kong and got to meet the filmmaker face to face

  • Christina Aguilera opens up about the impact of men's opinions on her body image

    The 42-year-old singer is encouraging women to embrace sexuality and sexual health.

  • 'We're all Chinese': Ex Taiwan president in China

    STORY: One of the former presidents of Taiwan is making a historic trip to China, becoming the first past or current Taiwanese leader to visit since the 1949 civil war between them.But the trip, which is being billed as an effort to lessen their worsening hostilities, is also being condemned by the political party that rules Taiwan - which is questioning why former President Ma Ying-jeou has decided to visit now.This was the start of Ma's trip in Nanjing, China on Tuesday (March 28). He's talking about shared ethnicity."People on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are Chinese people, and are both descendants of the Yan and Yellow Emperors. Today, many of the nation-building proposals held dear by the founding father of the country have been realized in Taiwan and the mainland.”Ma was visiting the burial site of Sun Yat-sen, who is celebrated by both sides for overthrowing the last Chinese emperor in 1911. Sun is also considered the founder of the Republic of China, the government that was driven onto Taiwan by Communists during the civil war. Taiwan's official name is the Republic of China to this day.Polls suggest that most modern day Taiwanese people do not identify as Chinese though.Ma's visit is part of an outreach effort by the political party he belongs to, the opposition party called Kuomintang, which traditionally favors close relations with China but strongly denies being pro-Beijing.He is not scheduled to meet with any senior Beijing leaders on the trip.

  • Report: Elderly man seen protecting dogs in viral video to be charged with obstruction

    KUALA LUMPUR, March 29 — An elderly man shown on video in a scuffle with Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) dogcatchers w...

  • In Johor, senior citizen dies after eating exotic puffer fish

    KLUANG, March 28 — A 83-year-old woman has died after eating puffer fish, while her husband is being treated in the inte...

  • Red Bull family’s US$8 billion wealth boom tops all Asia dynasties

    The company posted record revenue last year as consumers looked for a boost in their post-Covid life.

  • Ayob Khan set to take over as Bukit Aman's CID director next month

    KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 — Federal Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay has...

  • Analysts: PAS will circumvent sermon ban with public outreach programmes, social media presence

    KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 — Despite several state authorities having banned politicians from giving sermons in mosques, sev...

  • Malaysian woman dies from poisoning after eating puffer fish

    An elderly woman who had eaten puffer fish on Saturday is thought to have been poisoned and died as a result. The 83-year-old woman began experiencing shortness of breath and shivering, and an hour later, at around 3pm, after eating the fish at noon, her husband began exhibiting the same symptoms, according to Ling Tian…

  • Jose Mourinho reaches Roma decision after Newcastle make Eddie Howe replacement plan

    A report from Italy has pushed Newcastle forward as the most likely side to lure Mourinho back to England, prompting a big decision about his Roma future

  • 'This is like a movie': Ukraine's secret plan to convince 3 Russian pilots to defect with their planes

    Last summer, a group of Ukrainian volunteers, working closely with their country’s intelligence service, apparently came close to persuading three Russian aviators who were in the midst of bombing Ukraine to defect with their warplanes in exchange for $1 million a piece.

  • CCTV shows ex-student Nashville shooting suspect

    STORY: Police have released chilling CCTV footage of the suspect in Monday's (March 27) mass shooting at a school in Nashville, Tennessee.The heavily-armed assailant is first seen blasting through glass doors with gunfire,and then roaming the halls of the private Christian school, pointing a semi-automatic rifle.Three children and three adult staff were killed.Police have identified the suspect as Audrey Elizabeth Hale - a resident of the Nashville area who they say used to attend The Covenant School - where the attack happened. Police chief, John Drake, said the suspect identified as transgender but provided no further clarity.He also added that the motive was not immediately known, but the suspect had drawn detailed maps of the school."And, no motive at this point? Anything discovered in the apartment or house?""No, we have a manifesto. We have some writings that we're going over that pertain to this day, the actual incident. We have a map drawn out of how this was all going to take place. There's, right now, a theory of that that we may be able to talk about later, but it's not confirmed."Drake later told NBC News that investigators believe the shooting stemmed from "some resentment" the suspect harbored "for having to go to that school" as a younger person.He said the school was singled out for attack but the individual victims were targeted at random.Reacting to the shooting in Washington, President Joe Biden urged lawmakers to do more to tackle gun violence and has called on Congress to pass an assault weapons ban.“... It's ripping our communities apart, ripping the soul of this nation. Ripping the very soul of the nation... So I call on Congress again to pass my assault weapons ban.”A Nashville church held memorial service for the victims of the massacre on Monday night.And outside the school people have started to lay flowers, balloons, and teddy bears.Local residents have spoken of their shock at the attack - just the latest in an epidemic of mass gun violence.

  • British scientists discover ultramassive black hole ‘30bn times the mass of the Sun’

    It is one of the biggest black holes ever found, scientists say