Owen C. Emmons

Owen C. Emmons rescued Jackson Gutierrez from burning, Newport Beach, California, December 12, 2021. Gutierrez, 19, was the front-seat passenger in a car that was burning on a road after an accident at night. The driver of the vehicle was able to escape, but Gutierrez was rendered immobile by injuries to his legs during the crash. Within moments, fire had spread along the hood and dashboard and smoke partially filled the now-windowless cab. Gutierrez’s friend, Emmons, 18, college student, who was in an approaching vehicle, spotted smoke rising in the distance. Emmons arrived at the scene to find smoke and flames issuing from the vehicle, which he recognized. Emmons approached the burning car at the open driver’s door. Stepping onto the driver’s-side floorboard, he leaned in and located Gutierrez slumped over the center console. Amid smoke and blistering heat, Emmons then wrapped his arms in a bear hug around Gutierrez’s torso and successfully pulled him up and over the center console, realizing Gutierrez’s legs had been amputated at both knees by the impact. He removed Gutierrez from the car and carried him to safety along the road’s shoulder. There, he removed his hooded sweatshirt and T-shirt and fashioned a tourniquet for Gutierrez’s right leg. A bystander approached the duo and used a belt to apply as a tourniquet to Gutierrez’s other leg until paramedics arrived and took control of the scene. Gutierrez was transported to the hospital, where he remained for almost two months recovering from bilateral amputation of the legs; fractures of the pelvis, arm, and lower back; second- and third-degree burns to the left arm and face; and a traumatic brain injury. Emmons suffered no ill effects.

2024-0000012-10517