Chilling photos from a Lincoln Park woman who says it's not luck that kept her brother alive during a fiery crash last week, it was two strangers - "Good Samaritans" if you will.
Cindy LaBeau says her mother and her sister died recently and last Friday on Telegraph in the city of Flat Rock, she almost lost her brother, 56-year-old Doug Samuelson.
Looking at the remains of her brothers green mini-van after an explosive multiple vehicle crash makes LaBeau eternally grateful to two men she’s never met who pulled her brother from the flames.
"He couldn’t get out he had a shattered hip and broken ribs," says LaBeau.
"They saved my brother's life. If it hadn’t been for them, my brother would probably be dead right now," says LaBeau.
LaBeau wanted to find those men, so 7 Action News helped track them down.
"Sometimes you don’t question fate, sometimes it just happens for a reason and obviously those officers were supposed to be there for that reason," says Chief John Leacher with the Flat Rock Police Department.
It turns out, two police officers just happened to be nearby and just happened to have witnessed the crash. They leapt into action, pulling Samuelson from the van just moments before it burst into flames.
It all happened so fast, had those officers not been at the right place at the right time, the outcome could have been much different.
"You hear about the bad in the world and not the good. This is good. To me, they are hero’s because I might not have my brother ... I want to thank them, I want to thank them for saving my brother," says LaBeau.
"I will definitely pass along her thanks to the officers involved and they will appreciate that," says Chief Leacher adding that he is proud of his officers for doing their job well and putting the life and safety of residents first.
Samuelson is still being treating for his shattered pelvis, broken bones and other injuries but is expected to recover. Thanks to the quick brave action of two Flat Rock Police officers.
