Larry Coulter was driving down I-90 westbound hauling stones in his truck when his tire popped. He crashed into the guardrail which punctured his fuel tank.
Coulter was trapped in the cab of his truck, which had flipped on its side, as flames soon covered everything. He tried reaching for the door on the drivers side, but the fire prevented him from doing so. His only hope was to break through the windshield, but he became too weak to do so after inhaling so much smoke.
“I just kept thinking it was the end.” Coulter told WIVB-4.
Ha had just lost hope until he saw a car pull up in front of him. Out of the car came Ed Brunner with a metal bar to break open the windshield but the flames were too strong to get close enough.
Instead, he grabbed stones and began hurling them at the windshield.
“That guy should have been a professional football player or something,” Coulter said. “That truck was engulfed in flames, it was just unbelievable.”
After enough tossing, the windshield finally cracked, giving Coulter enough leverage to kick it down and escape. Brunner helped him out of the truck but that was the last Coulter saw of him.
The fire crew and ambulance came after Brunner helped him out of the cab. Coulter was giving oxygen and medication and was taken to the hospital. He only wishes he could properly thank the man who saved him.
But Brunner doesn’t want to be called a hero. “I did it because I saw another man who needed my help. God put me there for a reason. Thankfully I was able to break the window.”
Because of one man’s selfless actions, another’s life was saved. The only thing Court has to say about it is, “He was my guardian angel that day. Of that I have no doubt.”