A Plano police officer is being hailed a hero after he pulled a 22-year-old man from a burning car last week.
Detective Chris Jones was off duty on Nov. 4 when he was driving southbound on U.S. 75 near Sherman, Texas, and witnessed what he called one of the worst wrecks he'd ever seen.
“I’ve been a police officer for 21 years and seeing something happen like this is something I’m never going to forget,” Jones said.
It was just before 6.a.m. when Jones saw a car careen across the median and slam into an 18-wheeler, which then caused the tractor-trailer to plow into a small white car.
The small car soon erupted into flames.
Jones ran over to the car to find 22-year-old Michael Perdue slumped over and unconscious.
“I looked and saw the white car was on fire,” he said. “I pulled him out of the car.”
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Seconds later, Perdue’s car was engulfed in flames.
After firefighters were able to get the flames under control, nothing was left of the car but the frame.
“I think if I were in the same situation as that young man in the car, there would be a ton of people to do the same thing as me,” Jones said.
Perdue was rushed to an emergency room with broken bones and lacerations and is now fighting off infection, according to his mother.
He also has a metal plate in his jaw after doctors discovered he broke his jaw in the wreck.
But she calls Jones an angel after saving her son’s life.
“Like I told everybody else, I was in the right place at the right time so I think I'll stick to that story,” said Jones.
