An elderly man involved in a bad crash is giving thanks to the medical staff and the good Samaritan who raced to the rescue to save him.
Lawrence Esteban, 99, hugged Shawn Williams, a physical therapist assistant who works at Broward Health North on Wednesday, saying Williams is the reason he’s walking out of the hospital.
“I just thank you very much, buddy,” said Lawrence.
Earlier this week, Lawrence was involved in a car crash along West Atlantic Boulevard near Andrews Avenue in Pompano Beach.
“I don’t know what happened. It just boom. A balloon blow up on the left side, on the driver, and then I see the glass had completely broken in pieces,” said Lawrence.
The elderly man remained inside his car after the crash as he was hurt and bleeding from both arms.
Williams was driving home from work when he spotted the car parallel to the railroad tracks and with front-end damage. He pulled over to help the man inside.
“I was not operating in my own strength. It was just strength from up on high,” said Williams.
Williams said he prioritized Lawrence’s safety and getting him out of the wrecked car.
“He was talking to me saying, ‘Don’t worry about the car, don’t worry about that.’ He said ‘You first,’” said Lawrence.
Using his training, Williams pushed the driver’s seat back to give them more room, then carefully helped move his legs out of the car.
“Finally we got his legs up, got him to the passenger side, got him to stand up and the physical therapy in me just came up and I said, ‘Could you stand? And he’s like, ‘Of course I can stand.’”
By the time Lawrence was being helped out of the car by Williams, other bystanders started to arrive along with paramedics.
Williams said when he heard that Lawrence would be taken to Broward Health North, he knew the elderly man was in good hands.
“I overheard one of the paramedics say ‘He’s going to North Broward’ and I thought that was the right place for him to be.”
The hospital worker quickly turned into a hero for Lawrence and his family.
Over the next few days, Lawrence received care from the hospital staff and made a quick recovery. But before he left, he and his daughter made sure to thank Williams and the entire medical team.
“You saved his life and we are so grateful. I can’t begin to tell you, not to mention all of the nurses here, all of the doctors. Everybody has just been wonderful with him,” said Angel Larrinaga Esteban, victim’s daughter.
Angel told 7News she hopes she can have the same amount of strength her father does to get through anything.