Costco hero: Man pulls senior driver out of burning car in Edison

🔥Charles Parry was waiting in line for the gas station to open at Costco in Edison

🔥A car began to circle him before crashing into a sign

🔥Parry ran over and pulled the elderly driver out of his burning car

EDISON — A man waiting for the Costco gas station to open saved the life of a 75-year-old driver who had a medical episode and crashed his car in a flaming wreck.

Charles Parry was in line at the Vineyard Square shopping center on Route 27 just before 6 a.m. Tuesday, when he noticed a man doing circles in the parking lot. Moments later, the driver, an elderly man, drove over the curb and crashed into the PetSmart sign.

"I thought maybe he was upset because he wasn't first in line. He circled around and did a loop around my car at full speed," Parry, 49, told New Jersey 101.5. "He made a beeline for the Walmart and Pet Smart sign into the concrete foundation at full speed."

Parry said he saw smoke coming from the hood and was on the phone with emergency dispatchers as he ran to the car. By the time Parry got to the car, flames were also coming out from under the hood. That didn't stop Parry from reaching into the car to free the man.

"I struggled with the seat belt a little bit and the airbag was kind of restricting my leverage to get in and pull the seat belt over his head. At one point, I had it like halfway on the side of his face, and I just reached in, hugged him, and started yanking on him, and was able to pull him out," he said.

Police Chief Thomas Bryan said the victim, who was diagnosed with neurodegenerative disorders, has been released from the hospital. He said the driver had a medical episode before the crash.

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It pays to lose weight

Parry said he took the man's hand as he rested against his legs, trying to determine if the man was in medical distress or in shock. An Edison police officer took over his care at that point. Parry described the whole thing as a movie as he watched the car head towards the sign.

As a result of his heroics, Parry said he missed going to the gym. But Parry credits a recent 50-pound weight loss with making it possible for him to make the rescue.

"My message to anybody is to get fit. Go to a gym, do something. Move. Get yourself in shape. Because if you ever have the opportunity to help somebody or yourself, for that matter, it's kind of hard to do it when you're out of shape," Parry said. "I'll be quite honest with you. I don't know how this would have gone about a year ago."

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