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Two Good Samaritans help rescue kids from burning car in metro Detroit

Posted at 10:16 PM, Apr 10, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-12 14:13:12-04

Two Good Samaritans are credited with saving the lives of two kids involved in a crash in Washtenaw County.

The crash happened before 6 p.m. on Sunday. According to investigators from the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office, a vehicle with a father and two young children inside, went off the road and hit a tree. 

It happened on Willis Road, east of Stoney Creek in Augusta Township. 

Two Good Samaritans happened to be driving by at the same time.

Jasper Gary-Bey and Justice Moss said they saw another driver flag them down, but that driver didn’t stay at the scene. Once they realized what happened, they jumped into action.

"When we looked over we had seen a vehicle had smashed into a tree,” said Gary-Bey.

"The driver was pretty mangled and folded up and we heard some children screaming from the backseat,” said Gary-Bey

“We ripped the door hinges off of the door, his legs were cocked under the dashboard, unfortunately we couldn't save him,” said Moss.

The pair was not able to get the dad out, but they were able to help the kids - a three-year-old-boy and a seven-year-old girl.
 
"She said 'how's daddy?' And that kind of tugged at my heartstrings, but I was more focused on getting her head secure and making sure she was safe and taking her out of the vehicle,” said Moss.

The car was already starting to catch fire and soon it was engulfed.

Both men wish they could have done more to save the man.

"Hopefully he died on impact, so you don't feel like it's your fault that you couldn't save him,” said Gary-Bey.

The mother of the man who died called to thank the men for saving her grandchildren, but they don’t feel like heroes, they said they feel like they just did what they had to.

"There's no way I'd ever be able to forgive myself if I didn't stop,” said Gary-Bey.

The Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office is still investigating the crash and looking into the reason the vehicle went off the road in the first place.