Andrew Parent helped rescue Jack H. Pylman from burning, Westmoreland, New York, June, 21, 2021. Pylman, 72, was the driver of a pickup truck that left a highway, struck a utility pole, overturned onto its roof, and came to rest a short distance from the pole, the top portion of which fell onto the truck’s undercarriage. A fire broke out, engulfing the truck’s undercarriage, and a downed electrical wire along the grass shoulder sparked and smoldered. A passing motorist driving a tow truck, Parent, 65, business owner, found Pylman, whose upper body was severely burned, screaming for help at the driver’s window, where his lower body was pinned inside the truck. The fire was intense. Parent stepped over the wire and approached the truck but, despite his best efforts, was unable to pull Pylman free or put out the fire with extinguishers. As Parent called for help from bystanders, another man approached the truck despite popping sounds. With each grasping Pylman’s arms and hands, Parent and the man pulled Pylman free and dragged him about 15 feet. Arriving medics tended to Pylman, who was taken to a hospital. He died one week later.
