ST PAUL, Minn. — At a St. Paul park, Sam Orbovich and Dave Klepaida greet each other like old friends. Their connection, one that along with a group of everyday heroes has been forged in flames.
“I’m only here because they continued to persist,” Orbovich said.
In April, Orbovich was driving down Interstate 94 in St. Paul when he says another car began to swerve in and out of traffic. It caused Orbovich to lose control. He doesn’t remember much of what happened next, but his vehicle swerved off the road, hit a light pole and burst into flames.
Orbovich was knocked unconscious. He only knows all of what happened next because of a dash cam video shared around the world.
Orbovich sat down with KARE 11 to describe his ordeal and what happened next on the condition that we also talk to the heroes who saved his life.
When he met us he was wearing the same sport coat he wore on the day he nearly died.
“It survived,” he said with a smile. “Not even a singe.”
That’s because of the regular citizens who quickly stopped their cars and ran to help.
Heroes jump into action
Tesfaye “Tes” Deyasso was one of the first to arrive, running toward the car and trying to open the driver’s side door.
“I kept pulling the door, like as hard as I can. I just keep pulling, pulling the door,” he recalled. But Sam’s car was pinned against a guardrail. “The flame was really, really really hot,” he recalled.
Lacie Kramer also pulled over.
“None of us thought – we just ran into there,” she explained. “I just knew that there was a car in flames…and it looked like a situation that needed assistance immediately.”
Orbovich says he eventually re-gained consciousness and could see and hear people trying to help him.
“They were saying to themselves ‘we got to get him out of here’. And I was saying to them, get me out!” he told KARE 11.
Rescuers tried smashing the window with objects, but it wouldn’t break.
Meanwhile, on the passenger side, Michael Coy, a UPS driver who was also one of the first on the scene, also tried to get Orbovich out. But he says, the grass burst into flames pushing him away and blocking the passenger exit.
“That was the moment I was kind of scared. I actually thought he might die in front of us,” Coy said.
As the car tires exploded, another helper arrived with the tool that changed everything.
“There was just a lot of chaos going on,” recalled Dave Klepaida – a driver with the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s FIRST program, sometimes known as Highway Helpers.
“I knew that I had to get up there and use the window punch,” he explained.
“Have you used that tool before?” KARE 11’s Lauren Leamanczyk asked. “Only in practice, only in training,” he replied.
The window punch is a handheld tool that is made to shatter a car window and in this case it worked.
Orbovich was pulled to safety with not a second to spare, just as another explosion caused the flames to overtake his car.
Miraculously, except for a few scratches and some smoke inhalation, neither he nor any of the heroes were hurt.
At the time no one knew the heroics were being being captured on fellow rescuer Kadir Tolla’s dash cam.
The video that would soon be shared everywhere.
Going Viral
“I just woke up to a lot of texts one day saying you’re all over the news,” Lacie Kramer said.
The others had a similar experience, including Orbovich, whose relatives in another state alerted him to the video.
“It was quite strange,” he said about suddenly going viral. Seeing the video was a shock.
“That was the first time I had an appreciation, I think, for how serious it was,” he said.
So, what was it about this moment that struck a nerve? The heroes and Orbovich thinks people were hungry to see goodness.
“Everybody came together to save a person they don’t even know,” said Tes Deyasso.
“In a time where this whole entire world is so divided on every single issue, in that one moment when it mattered - we came together,” Coy said. “Different races, different genders, different religions…we didn’t know who we were saving. We didn’t know their political bent. We just saved a man’s life.”
For Orbovich, it was the heroism that he believes inspired so many.
“The bravery, the persistence, the desire that these people expressed to get the job done of getting me out of the car is, I mean, it makes people feel good to watch it,” he said.
Two Lessons
Orbovich admits he still feels a bit guilty – all these people risking their life to save his. They’ve met a few times since and have vowed to keep in touch.
But while he says those who saved him were the very definition of heroes, the civilians brush off the praise.
“I don’t think I was a hero. No,” said Deyasso.
“All we did was behave like human beings,” said Coy.
“I feel like the team effort is heroic is what I would kind of say about that,” Kramer added.
And Klepaida said he was just doing his job.
For Orbovich and the others, there are two big lessons the rest of us can take from their remarkable story.
First, carry a window punch. The tool can be bought for around ten dollars and might just save a life.
The second lesson requires a bit of luck.
“If you have to get trapped in a burning car along the highway, make sure you do it in Minnesota because people stop. People come to your rescue,” Orbovich advised.