California- Kandice Lynn Haynes, wrote on her Facebook Page earlier today about a heroic act performed by a man named Kirk Wiltfang. Mr. Wiltfang saw a horrible accident on Highway 99 in California and stopped to help, which ultimately saved an entire family from possibly burning to death in their vehicle after a terrible crash.
Photo: Kandice Lynn Haynes
Kandice Lynn Hayes writes “On Oct. 7, 2015, my baby sister and her two young children were in a terrible car accident on Hwy 99, between Madera (near Ave 12) and Fresno, CA. They were trapped in their SUV, which had flipped many times and landed on it’s side. With the smell of leaking gasoline, and no chance of firefighters or paramedics getting to the scene in time, a man bravely jumped the highway median and risked his own life to begin pulling my sister and her kids from the smoking SUV. He was assisted by a few other men, who could see he needed help, while others just stood by filming and taking pictures with their cell phones. He was able to cut my 2 year old nephew from his car seat seatbelts and get him safely away from the SUV. Then, rescued my 9 year old niece from the passenger seat, as she dangled above her mom trying not to allow herself to fall and crush her. He then was able to reach in the passenger window and pull my sister out. Within seconds of pulling her out, the SUV became engulfed in flames and black smoke, quickly burning through the entire vehicle. My sister and her two kids were rushed to the hospital and treated for minor injuries. This brave man, who risked his own life, showed up at the hospital to check on them, where my nephew recognized him and gave him a huge hug! My sister and the kids are recovering at home and are doing well. They will be sore for awhile and have bumps and bruises, but they are alive!! The emotional wounds will take time, but they will heal from those, as well! I have been sharing posts all morning about this story, and have also written into The Ellen Show, to hopefully get this man honored in the way that he should be. Our family is so grateful and we have all thanked him for his bravery, but we want to do more to help express our love and appreciation for his heroism. Please share this story and help our family in honoring this brave man. Thank you!”
Photo: Kandice Lynn Haynes
The mans mother, Tamara Cardosa, wrote the following on her Facebook page in reference to the incident: “I am a very proud mother of a true hero!!! Yesterday a horrible accident on Hwy 99 and Avenue 12. A SUV southbound hit the center divide and flipped over. My son driving northbound saw clouds of dirt. He pulled over ran across two northbound lanes jumped over the center divider to hear screams from children and adult. The SUV was on its top and my son crawled thru the windows to get the family out. A toddler in a car seat was the first that my son was able to get out. My son smelled gas and knew he only had a very short time to get the others out. While some people pulled over (southbound traffic) they were busy filming on their phones while two people were still trapped. My son was hollering for help as he knew with the gas pouring out a fire would probably start. He went to grab the little girl and was helped by a construction worker that had pulled over.” The construction worker took the little girl and my son went back to save the mother. She was trying to get out her window with no luck. My son grabbed her by her belt loop and said “jump when I say jump and I will pull you through”. With the smell of gas stronger there was very little time. As soon as my son helped the mother out the vehicle it blew up. All were saved with minor injuries. The family was transported to Saint Agnes hospital and my son went a couple hours later to see how they were doing. He was greated with a huge hug from the little boy that he saved (which brought tears of joy and sheer gratefullness from the family). The lord put the right person in the right place at the right time…Love you my wonderful son Kirk!!”
Photo: Kandice Lynn Haynes
In a world where people aren’t interested in getting involved, it is wonderful to hear that this man and a few others jumped into action and helped saved these three strangers from a burning vehicle.
Photo: Kandice Lynn Haynes
The family hopes that the story will go viral so they can honor Kirk for his heroic actions on October 7th, 2015.
