Jordan Reed and Daniel O'Beirne: Heroes of the Highway

Think of today's essay as an invitation to audience participation.  Ready?  Show of hands:  How many reading this right now saved the life of a complete stranger on Monday while you were commuting to work? Me neither.  To save me being accused of discriminating against the "remotely-yet-gainfully-employed", how many of you reading this right now, who presently work from home, have ever saved the life of a complete stranger while commuting to work?  Me neither. 

On Monday afternoon, Daniel O'Beirne was on his way to work as a corrections officer for the NJDOC at its Avenel facility when, up ahead of him in a southbound travel lane on the Turnpike, he saw a driver of a tractor-trailer cab lose control of his vehicle and strike a sign pole, which caused the cab to burst into flames.  Mr. O'Beirne, who is a firefighter in the Wood-Ridge volunteer fire department, pulled his car over to the shoulder, got out, and ran to the aid of the driver who was, when Mr. O'Beirne reached him, "standing on the running board of the truck, engulfed in flames."    

Undeterred by the fact that the driver was on fire, Mr. O'Beirne pulled the man off of the truck and then using first his own shirt and, then, his own pants, proceeded to pat the man down in order to put out the flames.  While his extraordinary efforts improved the driver's situation markedly, Mr. O'Beirne could not completely extinguish the fire. 

As Mr. O'Beirne was patting the driver down, Jordan Reed sprang into action.  Mr. Reed was also on his way to work, which for him is the emergency department at Inspira Medical Center in Mullica Hill, New Jersey.  Mr. Reed - and a third samaritan who had a fire extinguisher - rushed over to Mr. O'Beirne and the man he was helping, where Mr. Reed used the fire extinguisher to finally put the fire out, after which he and Mr. O'Beirne got the injured driver over to the shoulder of the highway to wait for emergency personnel.  The truck driver, who sustained "serious burns" was airlifted to the hospital from the scene. 

Not surprisingly, given their willingness to hurl themselves into harm's way to save the life of a stranger, Mr. O'Beirne and Mr. Reed each downplayed their respective roles in the rescue and highlighted each other's contribution.  To appreciate the risk these two men took (and the third, unnamed man who did likewise), I suggest you click on this link and take a look at the condition of the truck from which Mr. O'Beirne rescued the driver. 

I, for one, am not going to quibble with Superman's definition.  Instead, I simply salute Jordan Reed and Daniel O'Beirne for embodying it.  

-AK