It was a regular night driving back home for Richard Bell. As he cruised down the road with his fiancée, he began seeing little pieces of scrap metal and other kinds of debris sprinkled on the pavement.
According to Hawaii News Now, he had just left Hilo "when he came across the scene just before 7 p.m."
There were two smashed vehicles on the road that had just collided "in the pitch-black darkness," as Richard recalls in the video below, posted on January 7, 2017. From both automobiles, Richard heard screaming. Voices were yelling, "Help! Call 911! Somebody help me!"
He got out of his car and raced into action. Unfortunately, he was unable to save an older man involved. Despite the tragedy, Richard knew there were more people who needed help amid the rubble.
Then he heard a tiny voice coming from the back of the red minivan.
There was a helpless 7-year-old girl trapped in the backseat, struggling with a broken leg from the impact of the crash.
"Once I had seen the kid's face, that was just priority. Everything else didn't matter at the time to me," Richard explains.
"I can't feel my legs! I think they're broken!" she told Richard as he tried to free her from the back of the van.
Thankfully, Richard reassured her as he wriggled her out. "Don't worry, baby girl," he said. "I got you. It's OK."
As it turns out, authorities determined the pickup-truck driver responsible for the crash had been drinking and had a warrant out for his arrest. Although this situation involved tragedy and disgust, it is important to remember the real heroes who walk among us, like Richard. If he hadn't been at the scene at that exact time, who knows what would have happened to the survivors of the fatal accident.
"I'm just very happy that I was there and able to help," a very selfless Richard concludes. See the full news coverage in the video below.
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