Virginia Beach, Va. (WTKR) - NewsChannel 3 is honoring a Virginia Beach Sheriff's Corporal who took action and helped save the life of a Virginia Beach Master Firefighter.
Corporal Kurtis Mundy was heading home from the overnight shift at the jail on the morning of Saturday, March 29 when he came upon a horrific crash on Princess Anne Road.
"I was traveling home and everybody was slamming on their brakes and I ended up looking and there was a truck on fire," Mundy told NewsChannel 3's Todd Corillo.
Virginia Beach Police say two pick-up trucks collided head-on near Jarvis Road around 7:30 that morning and one of the trucks caught on fire after the collision.
A group of Good Samaritans, including Mundy, quickly took action.
"I got out of my car and told a lady to call 911. I ran up to the vehicle and there were 3 other individuals trying to help a guy out," Mundy recalls.
"I got over there and helped him out. Got him away from the vehicle and another lady said there was someone else in the other vehicle," he continued.
The person in the other vehicle was 62-year-old Katherine Allen; despite heroic efforts to save her, Allen died at the scene.
"We went over there and she was trapped inside and unfortunately we weren’t able to save her," Mundy remembers.
For his heroic actions on that day - the sleeve of his jacket melted from the heat of the flames - NewsChannel 3's Todd Corillo presented Corporal Kurtis Mundy with the NewsChannel 3 People Taking Action Award.
Corillo also introduced Mundy to Battalion Chief Amy Valdez with the Virginia Beach Fire Department.
"Greg is one of our Master Firefighters assigned to Company 13 and he’s unable to be here today because he’s still in the hospital but thanks to you he’s expecting a complete recovery and he does remember you that morning – he remembers the uniform and he’s eternally grateful for the assistance that you gave him that day," Valdez told Mundy.
NewsChannel 3 has spoken to two of the other Good Samaritans who took action on that Saturday, including John Malkowski and Michael Roemer.
Valdez says it is because all of the Good Samaritans that Master Firefighter Greg is expected to make a full recovery.
"He remembers all of it and he is completely and eternally grateful to those people. He completely recognizes that on his own he would not have been able to get out of that vehicle. It was one of the first things he said when I arrived at the hospital – 'I tried, I tried to get out,'" Valdez said.
"Had it not been for the individuals who stopped and assisted all of them – this might have been a completely different outcome and we are really grateful," she said.
