An off-duty Chino Hills deputy and group of good Samaritans helped pull a woman from a burning car in the middle of the freeway on Sunday.
Deputy Justin Reed was heading into work on the 60 Freeway when he spotted the wreckage of a mangled car.
Nmesoma "Soma" Robert had just collided with another car on the 60 freeway in Riverside.
Reed and a group of good Samaritans pulled Robert from the smoking car minutes before it burst completely into flames.
Robert said she was very panicked as she watched the back of the vehicle go up in flames.
"If not for him, I wouldn't be here with my family," she said of the deputy. “I think it's because he was a deputy that he was able to make that quick thinking decision to pull me out.”
Deputy Reed knew there wasn't much time to wait.
The flames were so hot, Robert's hair melted on her head.
“My braid melted on the top of my skull, so I'm not able to cut most of it,” she said.
She suffered a shoulder injury and cuts, but she's going to be okay thanks to everyone who helped that day.
“It shows that at the end of the day we all do still care for each other. It gives me a heartwarming feeling," Reed said. "This is what we are trained to do. This is what we signed up for.”
"With his quick thinking I'm alive, so I really do want to thank him for that," Robert said.
"Great job by all who put the life of another ahead of their own!" said Capt. John Walker in a Twitter thread on the rescue.
