When a paralyzed man was trapped in a burning car with moments to live, a beautiful stranger pulled him to safety. Days later, the heroic woman received a call she would never forget.
To say that life has been a struggle for Dennis Brown is an understatement. The 58-year-old Dallas resident was shot at the age of 22 and subsequently paralyzed from the waist down. Still, he never let his disability slow him down. In fact, he even learned to operate a vehicle with just a few adjustments. However, something that had made his life a bit easier would also threaten to take it away.
After renting a car that was equipped with a hand control device from Enterprise, Brown says something just wasn’t right. After turning the ignition, he noticed a strange odor. Without warning, the front of the vehicle burst into flames, engulfing the car in smoke and trapping him inside.
“I think it was a wiring issue. I rented this car several times this time it smelled funny,” Brown wrote. “It started smoking then I looked up it’s on fire.”
While helping her friend move into a nearby home, Tammi Arrington, 42, glanced outside to see the blaze. Although she believed the car to be empty, she couldn’t shake a gut feeling that someone might need help, so she headed over and peered through the smoke. Through the window, she saw movement coming from the driver’s seat, the New York Post reports.
“I just happened to see his head move just a little bit from the headrest and then I realized there was someone in there,” Arrington said.
Arrington quickly rushed over and opened the door, urging Brown to flee. When the passenger informed her that he was paralyzed, she knew she had to act quickly.
“She said, ‘Get out of the car,’” said Brown. “I said, ‘I can’t, I’m in a wheelchair.’”
Arrington initially tried fetching Brown’s wheelchair but soon realized she didn’t have time to put it together. Without hesitation, the 5-foot-3-inch woman dragged Brown out of the car and far away from the fire. She then retrieved and assembled his wheelchair while firefighters arrived to extinguish the flames.
Although she had undeniably saved Brown’s life, she managed to slip away before Brown could properly thank her or even get her name. In hopes of reconnecting with her, Brown broadcast his plea on the news. Days later, Arrington received an unexpected phone call.
“I’d like to appreciate her for her heroic act,” he told the station. “She went into harm’s way to save me. Dragged me out. I’d like to thank her.”
When Arrington answered the phone, she heard the familiar voice that had cried out to her just days prior. This time, however, it was filled with gratitude and joy.
“The first thing I said was, ‘Tammi, this is Dennis, the guy in the wheelchair,’” Brown said. “We started laughing, man, we just started laughing.”
While Arrington has received praise for her actions, the humble heroine doesn’t believe she did anything out of the ordinary.
“I’m glad he’s OK,” Arrington said, later adding, “Any human response — I think if they saw that, they would have done the same thing.”
Despite the traumatic event with the burning car, Dennis Brown hasn’t let this second near-death experience get him down. If anything, he is more grateful than ever for the gift of life.
“Life is beautiful, even from the sitting down position,” Brown said with a big smile.
Brown offered to treat Tammi Arrington and her friend to dinner the next time his savior was in town. He believed it was the least he could do for the woman who risked her own life to give him a fighting chance.
