REAL life hero Jacob Gallagher saved a woman’s life by pulling her from a burning car seconds before it exploded into a fireball.
Brave Jacob, 19, of Caerwys, dragged the trapped driver of the car, which had crashed into a tree, to safety, when smoke started pouring from the bonnet.
Moments later the car burst into flames.
Jacob was driving along the A541 between Bodfari and Caerwys at around 8.20pm on Monday when he sprang into action.
“I spotted a car up ahead which had left the road and it was stuck under a fallen tree,” he said.
“I pulled my car over and ran over to see what had happened. There was a woman in the driver’s seat and she was squashed up against the window.”
Jacob called the emergency services and began talking to the driver to help keep her calm.
But he had to make a split-second decision when he noticed smoke coming from the bonnet.
“All of a sudden there were flames and I knew I had to do something,” he said.
“I clambered over the tree, pulled the driver through the passenger door and dragged her away from the car.
“Then there was a loud boom and the car just seemed to explode. There were flames everywhere. It was too close for comfort.”
Paramedics, police and fire crews arrived soon after with firefighters wearing breathing apparatus to extinguish the blaze.
Former Denbigh High School student Jacob, who is a ski and watersports instructor, added: “The driver was confused and shaken up but she wasn’t too badly hurt.
“I’ve had to carry out a lot of training including first aid and mountain rescue as part of my job. I think that meant I was prepared and knew what to do.”
Jacob’s heroic actions capped an eventful day as his older sister Pippa, 25, had given birth to a little girl at Glan Clwyd Hospital, Bodelwyddan earlier that day.
He said: “I was actually driving home from seeing my new niece Nancy-Jane in the hospital when it all happened. It was quite a day and is not something I will forget in a hurry.”
His uncle, Scott Gallagher, 43, of Connah’s Quay, said he was “extremely proud” of his nephew.
“What he did is very admirable. As soon as I heard about what he had done I thought he deserved some recognition,” he said.
“You never know how you will react when you find yourself in that situation.
“Young people get a lot of criticism but Jacob’s actions show they are not all bad.”
A spokesman for the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said: “We were called with a report of a vehicle which had hit a tree and caught on fire. One crew attended and extinguished the fire using two hose reel jets and a dry foam extinguisher. The fuel tank had ruptured and we used environmental equipment to make sure fuel did not enter the watercourse.”