A paralyzed man was pulled from a burning car by a heroic woman who made it his mission to track down the good Samaritan so he could properly thank her.
Dennis Brown, of Dallas, Texas, USA heaped praises on Tammi Arrington after the Mississippi resident, who was visiting a friend in Texas, jumped into action when Brown’s car rental service suddenly caught fire Sunday morning.
The lady dragged the 58-year-old from the car before flames fully engulfed the ride that was equipped with a hand control device that enables him to drive.
“It’s kind of dawning on me the kind of danger I was in,” Brown told The Post Wednesday night, September 6.
“If it wasn’t for Tammi I don’t know how I possibly would’ve gotten out or how close I would’ve got burnt or wouldn’t be here today if not for Tammi.”
He said the two were able to reconnect Wednesday morning days after Brown forgot to ask for her name after the frightening ordeal.
Arrington, 42, said she was simply in the right place at the right time when she saw the car on fire.
Instead of going out with her friend that morning, she decided to stay behind in the new home she just helped the friend move into.
When she looked out the front window, she saw part of the car in flames.
She rushed outside and saw all the doors were closed, initially believing it was empty.
“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.
She ran to the car and opened the door, urging Brown to flee from the fire.
“She said ‘get out of the car,’” said Brown, who became paralyzed after he was shot at 22. “I said ‘I can’t I’m in a wheelchair.’”
She originally grabbed the wheelchair, but soon realized she didn’t have enough time to put it together.
Arrington, only 5-foot-3, said she dragged Brown out and then placed him in the wheelchair after it was assembled.
Brown said in all the chaos, he never got her name.
While Brown’s loved ones went over later to thank Arrington at the home she was visiting, they also never got her name.
“I didn’t give a proper thank you,” Brown said.
Brown agreed to be interviewed hoping the good Samaritan would see it.
“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.”
“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.”
Brown says he plans on taking Arrington and her friend out to dinner next time she’s in town along with Brown’s appreciative mother Julia.
But Arrington doesn’t think she deserves much if any, credit for her heroics.
“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.”
