Sunday, FOX28 reported an early morning accident on the US 31 bypass under the Niles-Buchanan underpass, but what we didn't know then was that a few local heroes were at the scene in the nick of time.
Ryan Casey placed 5th in the state meet Saturday for wrestling and as if that wasn't enough excitement for this Niles High school senior, he may have also saved a life.
He and his coaches were driving home from the meet when they came across a burning car. Without hesitation, they say they parked their car to see how they could help.
"Adrenaline kinda popped in because I didn't think about anything I did, it just kind of happened," says wrestler Ryan Casey.
They quickly found out there was a man stuck in the burning vehicle. So while one coach was on the phone with 911 Ryan and the other coach got to work.
"I just couldn't lift him, he was wedged in pretty well and he was a big guy. Ryan is ungodly strong as most of his opponents will tell you. I said 'Ryan I need help. Help me get this guy out.' He came over and pretty much took over and got him out," says assistant coach, Tom Desenberg.
Together they carried the man out of the vehicle and a few yards away. Soon after they were to safety, they realized how little time they had.
"When I first got out of the van there was just a little flame coming out of the hood and then less than five minutes later when we got the guy away from the car, the whole thing was up in flames," says assistant JV coach, Jake Glueckert.
They say paramedics arrived shortly after that and took over.
