A U.S. Navy corpsman suddenly found himself playing the role of the "hero" in a real-life tragedy..
But Senior Chief Thomas Gentry is not taking much personal credit despite risking his life recently in pulling a woman from a burning car on Interstate 264 in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
"I just knew it was the right thing for me to do," he told CBN News. "I feel like God used me, and I also felt like it was my responsibility to go back as a corpsman and help."
A truck had crashed into the car, causing it to catch fire.
Gentry was driving by and saw the accident. He immediately pulled over and rushed to the scene. He saw an unconscious female driver and a semi-conscious male passenger.
"With the flames spreading, my main concern was just, she needs to get out of here, get out of the vehicle, or she's going to die," Gentry told CBN News.
The woman's seat belt was stuck. Gentry asked the onlookers if anyone of them had a knife to cut her loose. Someone gave him a knife, and Gentry pulled the woman to safety in the nick of time as the fire quickly reached the back of the front seats.
"The fire (spread) so quickly from the time that I arrived to the vehicle 'til the time I pulled her out that I could feel the heat on the left side of my body as I was reaching into pull her out so I knew I had to move quickly," Gentry said.
The man in the passenger seat also made it out of the car before it was consumed by fire.
However, Gentry regrets that he wasn't able to rescue the woman's two young daughters—a five-month-old girl and her two-year-old sister.
"I did not see the infant in the back mostly due to the damage that that vehicle had. The back of the vehicle was pretty much up against the front seats. So there was no way for me to see the infant," he said.
The other girl died from the injuries she sustained during the accident.
Gentry said he wasn't really trying to play hero but was simply trying to "pay forward" a similar kind gesture extended to his wife by a stranger.
"Last year my wife was in an accident on 264, and someone stopped and helped her," he said. "So our family was very appreciative and grateful."
He had a message for everybody. "I would say if there's anything that you can do to help someone in a time of need like this without putting yourself at risk kind of like I did ... do something if you can," he said.
