19-Year-Old Pulls Woman From Burning SUV in Virginia

A 19-year-old man is being hailed as a hero after rescuing a woman from a burning SUV in Spotsylvania County this weekend. 

The woman was trapped in her SUV after it plowed into a tree on Chancellor Road early Saturday and burst into flames, a report from the sheriff's office said.

Stephen Haselhorst was driving home from work at about 1 a.m. Saturday when he saw the crash. 

"The front of the car was on fire, and I noticed the back door was open and there was a woman screaming for help," Haselhorst said. "She didn't seem fully coherent. She was in a lot of pain it seemed, and I knew I had to hop out and help."

Haselhorst pulled the woman from the vehicle and called 911 as the flames spread. He was having trouble carrying the woman by himself when a teenager also stopped to help, he said.

"He and I carried her the rest of the way across the road, because at that point the car was fully engulfed. Very soon after I got her out, the car started catching [on fire] in the front seat and towards the back," Haselhorst said.

First responders arrived minutes later and treated the woman, who suffered a broken hip but is expected to recover.

Haselhorst headed home, calling his mom on the way.

"I pick up the phone and he says, 'Mama, I think I just saved somebody's life,'" Michelle Haselhorst, Stephen's mother, said, starting to cry. "It was just emotional for me to hear. I was scared."

"We never know how we are going to react, and Stephen just reacted exactly the right way," said his father, who also is named Stephen Haselhorst. "It makes us extremely proud to know he had the courage to stop and help out."

Both young men received praise on social media for their bravery.

"It's weird, crazy that I helped someone in that way," Haselhorst said. "I didn't even think I was capable of that before, and it's touching and nice that people can say such wonderful things."