HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - Many good Samaritans stop to help when they witness an accident, but for one U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command contractor, the choice to stop possibly made the difference between life and death for one Tennessee Valley woman.
Grant Lewis, a network engineer who works for SAIC supporting the command's G6 office, his son, Jusef Lewis and Jusef's girlfriend were on their way to church Easter Sunday and passed a truck going the opposite direction at a curve on Carter Gin Road in Harvest, when they heard the truck wreck.
"I heard the truck tires screech… I heard the brakes," Lewis said. "I didn't see it, but I looked in the passenger side mirror and I saw tree branches shaking, and I told my son, 'He didn't make that curve; you've got to back up."
According to Lewis, they were about 75 yards past the truck, so they backtracked, hopped out, and found the truck already on fire.
"A young guy (the driver, Daniel Pace) was on the passenger side trying to get the woman out, but the door was stuck and wouldn't open," Lewis said. "At first I thought, 'She's not going to make it. How are we going to get her out of there? We've got to get her out of there.'
"I jumped in the driver's side of the burning truck. Apparently he was cutting trees or something because he had a gas can and a power saw," Lewis continued. "The truck was already getting hot. The woman was over by the door and she was hysterical, screaming. "
Lewis got out of the truck to explain to 911 their location, and when he turned back around to the truck, "flames were everywhere. I was hesitant about going in a second time, because I really thought it was going to go."
Lewis said his son was adamant that somehow they were going to get the woman out. Jusef, who is a sheriff in Columbia, S.C., and visiting for the Easter holiday, is a former firefighter.
"He told her, 'Look, we're going to get you out of here. Are you ready?' We yanked and tugged and pulled her out of the window," Lewis said. "By the time we got her out, it was pretty much fully engulfed."
Once the emergency services arrived, Lewis and his family went on to church.
"To me, it just felt like the normal or natural thing to do," Lewis said. "I believe that if someone saw me in need of help, he would automatically not hesitate and come to help. When I heard the screech and saw the tree shake, I knew they were in trouble. So I couldn't imagine to just keep going. I couldn't leave somebody that I knew was in trouble and not try. At least try. Wounds heal. You can buy another truck, but you can't buy another human."
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