Brighten Your Day

Ex-Con Skips Job Interview, Jumps Off Bus And Saves The Life Of Car Crash Victim

July 17, 2017

Just seven days after being released from prison, Aaron Tucker is being hailed as a hero.

Photo: GoFundMe.com

Last Thursday, the 32-year-old from Bridgeport, Connecticut, was on his way to a job interview at a nearby Dinosaur Bar-B-Que.

While on the city bus, he was startled to see a car hit a tree and flip over. The bus driver quickly hit the brakes and came to a stop.

"Are you going to help?" he shouted to the bus driver. "No, but if you get out I'm going to leave," the driver replied, explaining that he had to stick to his route.

Tucker jumped off the bus and sprinted toward the totaled car, which was upside down and spewing smoke. He knelt down next to the passenger-side window and saw the driver covered in blood.

"The guy had a lot of blood coming from his head," Tucker told CBS News.

He unbuckled the man's seat belt and dragged him away from the vehicle as it started to catch on fire.

"You're going to be all right," Tucker repeated to the man as they lay on the pavement. "Your family wants to see you. Keep your eyes open."

Tucker missed his job interview in order to stay with the man until an ambulance arrived. The man was taken to Norwalk Hospital and was in stable condition as of Wednesday, the Westport News reported.

"I feel like a job can come and go, but a life is one time thing," Tucker said. "The job just wasn't in my mind at that time."

Community members who read a local news story about Tucker's heroic rescue decided to help the man turn his life around. They set up a GoFundMe page, raising more than $50,000 in just three days.

Tucker said any money he makes will go toward taking care of his family.

"I got locked up three weeks before my son was born," Tucker explained. "When he was born, I got a phone call from the hospital. I heard my son crying in the background, and right then and there I was like, 'I'm changing my life.'"