Firefighter wins the internet after putting duty above family time to save a man's life

There are professions with eight-hour shifts after which an individual can go home, relax, and forget all about work. But then there are people who work as doctors, cops, and firefighters, who remain committed to duty even past working hours. Some people go above and beyond their call of duty to protect people and New York Fire Department's Deputy Chief George Healy is definitely one of them. On August 12, Monday, he was starting an 18-hour drive from New York to Disney World in Florida with his family, when he saw an accident at Belt Parkway in Brooklyn and swung in to save a man from a burning car, according to a Facebook Post.

As a firefighter, the man understood that there was a fire involved as soon as he saw the accident, and started running up the highway without thinking twice. "There were two cars involved and debris across the entire highway. The engine compartment of one car was on fire," he explained. He went over to that car and realized that the passenger door could not be opened since it had caved in while the fire was spreading up the windshield. "I pushed the airbag away and I realized there was a man unconscious in the backseat," he recalled.

A police officer also joined in and helped Healy by approaching from the driver's seat after breaking the window. Together, they were able to reach in and open the door. The firefighter said, "I got into the back seat and the man was entangled in the seat belt. He was limp. As I'm trying to disentangle him from the seat belt, the car is starting to fill with smoke from the fire. The fire in the engine compartment was starting to overtake the vehicle and the situation was rapidly deteriorating." Thankfully, they were able to pull the man through the backseat and brought him out of the car.

Talking about the unconscious man, Healy told ABC 7NY, "He may have been in the front seat, and with the force of the accident, he got driven to the backseat of the car. He was unconscious from the impact." As someone who has been doing this for the past 34 years, he instantly knew how to act in that moment. "I knew there was no one there and if we didn't do something about this, the person wasn't going to get out," he added. "When I went back to my car, a couple of other drivers approached me and said, 'Man, you ran into that, what's wrong with you?' and I'm like, 'I'm a New York City firefighter; that's what New York City firefighters do.'"

The man was sent to NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn while he was in a stable condition, by the FDNY Paramedics. As Healy said, "It felt nice to be at the right place at the right time and anytime we can help somebody makes you feel good," people in the comments applauded the firefighter for saving a man's life. Patti Carlin commented, "Hero without a cape. FDNY/NYPD are by far the greatest!" Marie Lowenhaupt remarked, "True bravery." Rick Kulmann wrote, "You are a true hero even off duty, great job and that victim will be able to go home to his family because of your heroism." Mary Dreelan Lennon added, "Amazing and selfless act of kindness and courage."