Video shows heroic efforts by police, citizen to save teen’s life in fiery Highland car crash

HIGHLAND — An unnamed family is planning a journey of recovery this week instead of a funeral for their teenage boy, thanks to the heroic efforts of a good Samaritan, and the Lone Peak and American Fork police departments.

The family gave a written statement of thanks to the officers involved in the rescue to be read during a press conference Thursday afternoon.

The incident occurred around midnight on Aug. 8, when Officer Austin Williams with the Lone Peak Police Department said he started to track down a vehicle and found it had hit a tree.

Williams went on to explain that the crash looked so severe that he was certain it was fatal until he heard cries for help.

In the dashcam footage, the car is seen crunched into a tree and exploding into flames shortly after the officer arrives. The video shows the officer getting out of his car and cautiously approaching the vehicle before springing into action upon realizing the driver is alive.

He said he immediately broke the driver’s side window to allow oxygen to flow and tried pulling open the door, as seen in the dashcam footage.

However, the vehicle’s door was stuck in the crash, forcing the officer to wait for backup to arrive before further action could be taken.

Williams became emotional as he explained those moments of helplessness.

“When he was screaming and looking at me, yelling at me to help him,” he said, “and I just had to watch a fellow human being in that much pain and suffering, wishing I could do something, and him looking to me as the person who could save him, and I couldn’t.”

Luckily, it didn’t take long for backup to arrive.

Officers from Lone Peak and American Fork showed up with fire extinguishers to help continue life-saving efforts.

Read the full story from KSLTV here.

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