Brian Patrick Joyce helped to save Erin E. Brogan and David T. Yahoodik from burning, Newton, Massachusetts, July 28, 2012. Brogan and Yahoodik, both 25, were occupants of a sport utility vehicle that, in an interstate highway accident at night, struck a concrete barrier and, overturning onto its passenger side, came to rest on the highway. Flames broke out at the front of the vehicle. Joyce, 21, landscaper, and his family, approaching in another vehicle, stopped at the scene. Joined by his brother, Joyce immediately ran to the burning vehicle and attempted to open its driver’s door. Unsuccessful, he opened the rear door on that side of the vehicle and then extended his upper body inside through it. As he moved the headrest from the driver’s seat to give the victims more room to maneuver, his brother, at the rear of the vehicle, opened its hatch door and entered. He reclined the back seat and then, taking Brogan by the arm as Joyce guided from the door opening, removed her through the back of the vehicle. Yahoodik followed them. Just after they retreated to safety, a passing vehicle struck the burning one, knocking off its hatch door, and flames soon grew to engulf the vehicle. Yahoodik and Brogan were taken to the hospital for treatment of their injuries.
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