‘Hulk’ rips open door to rescue trio in crash

A man who has been compared to The Hulk ripped a car door free to rescue three people involved in serious crash says he was running on adrenaline.

Taina Keelan, 23, rushed to the victims’ aid as a vehicle went up in flames following a two-car crash on State Highway 1, south of Foxton, last week.

He was on his way to drop a friend in Levin when he came across the crash moments after it happened. When he saw three people, including two teenagers, still in one of the cars he pulled over and went to their aid.

He found the driver awake and trapped in the front seat but when he tried to open the door it wouldn’t budge, as the A-pillar, where the windscreen was, had collapsed.

‘‘I pretty much started getting angry at it really. I think that’s where the adrenaline came from, and just seeing her there quite helpless, it does things to your head, so you know, I just pulled it as hard as I could and managed to free it.’’

With the other car burning nearby, he then freed the person in the back seat. With the help of another person he was able to remove the remaining passenger.

Keelan had done some first aid courses through his job as a Corrections officer at Manawatu¯ Prison, which helped him check airways and the vital signs of the crash victims.

Thoughts for his own health were pushed aside and tunnel vision took over as he fixated on getting the occupants out.

‘‘The fire was a concern obviously, but I just didn’t really think about it, I didn’t really have time to, the main thing was just to get them out.’’

The family of the victims had contacted him to thank him for what he did. ‘‘It was quite nice to get a bit of a thank you. I just said, ‘anyone would have done that that day pretty much’. I was just glad I could help some way or another.’’

In a post on Facebook by a family member thanking Keelan and first responders, he was referred to as the hulk, a name that appeared to be sticking.