MESA, Ariz. — A Chandler police officer and an off-duty firefighter are being credited with saving a woman’s life after a seven-car crash in Mesa left her trapped in a burning pickup truck, AZ Central reported.
Officer Brian Larison of the Chandler Police Department was on his way to work on Feb. 18 when he took an alternate route, putting him at the scene of the crash around 7 a.m., according to the report. A concrete mixer had rear-ended a Nissan pickup, causing it to overturn and catch fire.
Larison, a 20-year police veteran and former Marine, rushed to the burning truck and used his baton to break the window, video shows. As he worked to free the driver, off-duty Peoria firefighter and paramedic Asa Paguia, who happened to have his fire gear with him, arrived to assist.
Together, they pulled the woman, identified as Aymee Ruiz, through the window and away from the flames just moments before the fire spread to the truck’s cabin.
“She clung to me on the side of the road, and I just held her,” Larison told AZ Central, visibly emotional. “I just told her I had her.”
Ruiz was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety. Larison inhaled some smoke but was otherwise unharmed.
Both rescuers, who are also former Marines, said they were simply doing their jobs.
“Contract says payable with my life, if necessary,” Larison said. “That’s what we do.”
The crash remains under investigation, and it is unclear if the driver of the concrete mixer will face charges, according to the report.
Larison and Peoria reunited with Ruiz on Feb. 20 where she expressed gratitude to the first responders for saving her life.
“My heart felt full seeing their faces again. There’s really no words to describe it,” Ruiz said. “How do you say thank you like that? You know, what do you say? Like besides ‘thank you.’ There’s absolutely no words for it. What they did was heroic, courageous, brave, just insane, insane. So, seeing them again and on my two feet, and actually being able to say thank you and actually hug them feels great.”
