In a dramatic act of bravery, experienced NBC News reporter Tom Costello put his own safety on the line to save a young driver trapped in a burning wreck on a Maryland highway. He managed to pull the teenager to safety just moments before the vehicle erupted in flames.
Costello, a seasoned correspondent for NBC News, was on his way home via the Capital Beltway last Tuesday when he witnessed a harrowing accident. A car sped past him and violently collided with a concrete barrier.
Describing the scene the next day on NBC News, Costello recounted the terrifying sight as the car flipped over completely and burst into flames, scattering debris across the road while a fire began to engulf the wreck.
Without hesitation, Costello dialed 911, alerting emergency services to the dire situation by stating, “somebody in here is in bad shape.”
As he approached the smoldering vehicle, Costello feared the worst, expecting to find a lifeless body behind the wheel, he shared with a sense of grim reality.
Instead, he found the shellshocked 17-year-old driver sitting there, alive and somehow still conscious.
“I thought, ‘nobody could survive this’. And it was a teenager. He was stunned. He wasn’t speaking. He had a gaze in his eyes, he was looking out the front windshield,” Costello recounted.
The teen responded to Costello’s attempts to grab his attention, but could only croak that “everything hurts.”
Meanwhile, the fire was rapidly growing, but Costello didn’t want to risk further injuring the boy by moving him.
Costello started frantically waving down passersby and miraculously flagged an orthopedic surgeon and a nurse.
The surgeon secured the boy by his neck and head while Costello handled his torso and the nurse grasped his legs. They hoisted him out of the smoldering wreckage moments before the car exploded.
Pete Piringer, the chief spokesperson for Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service, confirmed that the teen survived the harrowing ordeal.
And within the next 12 hours, Costello was back on the air, as if nothing had ever happened.
“I think the lesson here is watch your kids. I mean, this was a 17-year-old, probably hadn’t been driving long, 100 miles per hour, he should be dead. I can’t believe he’s alive, to be honest with you,” Costello advised.