A Florida firefighter took action to save his girlfriend’s life after they were involved in a fiery highway crash, leaving him injured.
Bryan Aparicio, a firefighter with Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue, and his girlfriend Su were in an Uber on Interstate 95 in Delray Beach on Tuesday afternoon when a car veered into a fuel tanker’s lane.
The tanker then overturned and caught on fire.
While trying to avoid the crash, the couple’s Uber driver hit a median wall.
“The vehicle was immediately immobilized and instantaneously inundated with flames,” Aparicio’s colleagues from Station 10 at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport wrote on a GoFundMe page for the couple.
At the time of the crash, the couple were heading north to go on what was supposed to be a relaxing cruise. After coming to consciousness inside the Uber, Aparicio went to open up his door and was met by a complete wall of fire. Then he tried the door by his girlfriend, which was up against a barrier wall.
Jason Smith, president of the Broward County Professional Firefighters and Paramedics Association, International Association of Firefighters Local 4321 said, “Aparicio doesn’t recall this, but what ends up transpiring is he ends up knocking out a window out of the back seat so they can get out. As he was coming out of the vehicle, he heard his girlfriend screaming and realized she wasn’t with him.”
“Immediately, he put his hands and head back inside to grab her and pull her to safety. In doing so, he burned his face, hands, arms and legs. It happened in a split second,” Smith continued. “So what he instantaneously did, through all that fire, he just went ahead and sacrificed essentially everything that he had of his life to make sure that she could get out. he’s a real hero.”
The couple were both taken to the hospital in critical condition with severe burn injuries.
Bryan suffered second and third-degree burns. While his girlfriend suffered second and third-degree burns on both of her legs and hands.
Smith said, “Aparicio is currently in good spirits and has already been through one procedure, while his girlfriend will need to undergo surgery. He’s fortunate that he has this job, but his girlfriend does not have the same benefits. He’s going to look to help her with whatever she needs.”
The couple were among five people who were injured in the fiery crash.
As a result of the accident, billowing smoke could be seen for miles and the highway was closed for hours as firefighters worked to put out the large fire, as well as a secondary fire ignited by fuel from the tanker that traveled under the highway, through a storm drain and ignited on the west side of the southbound lanes.
