A Sept. 25, 2020, multi-vehicle highway accident in Lincoln, Nebraska, left Madison R. Daly, 21, in the driver’s seat of a sport utility vehicle that was pinned between a tractor trailer, concrete barrier, and a third vehicle. Flames broke out immediately. Pinned under the crumpled dashboard and steering wheel, Daly could not free herself. Frank P. Axiotes, a 49-year-old salesman from Elkhorn, Nebraska, was driving nearby and stopped at the scene. He ran across the interstate highway to the barrier and reached through the driver’s window to pull Daly out, but he couldn’t remove her. He jumped onto the vehicle’s hood and punched the windshield attempting to gain access to Daly. Another man arrived and Axiotes returned to the driver’s window where they, together, pulled Daly out of the car. Shortly, Daly’s vehicle was engulfed in flames. Although Daly suffered accident-related injuries, she was not burned. Axiotes sustained lacerations to his hand and was treated at the scene; he recovered.
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