PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now)— A Woodbridge bishop is being hailed as a hero after he rescued a young boy from a fiery crash Monday morning.
“I didn’t think about my life, I just wanted to do what I loved to do,” said Bishop John Adonteng Boateng, who serves at Divine Word International Ministries.
Adonteng Boateng was driving on I-495 in Prince George’s County around 11 a.m. when he witnessed a major crash.
According to Maryland State Police, a dump truck was driving northbound when it blew a tire, which caused the truck to cross into southbound traffic. An SUV struck the dump truck and it caught fire. Multiple vehicles were involved.
The bishop said he pulled over to see if he could help.
That’s when he saw the boy trying to escape one of the involved vehicles.
“When I approached the fire it was burning, it was flaming so high,” said Adonteng Boateng. “I saw a child that was crawling, trying to come out of the vehicle. So I stretched my arms into the fire and picked up the child.”
Witnesses captured it all on video.
You can see the child clutching onto the bishop, who tries to comfort him.
“While I held the boy and he was crying, ‘mommy, mommy,’ and some at point was asking whether he was going to die. It really traumatized me. It was emotional,” said bishop Adonteng Boateng.
He said that other people stopped and helped the boy’s mother, who he described as severely burned.
According to MSP, the driver and a child passenger in the dump truck were taken to the hospital. A passenger and a child in the SUV were also taken to the hospital. Two of those people are in serious condition.
The bishop is just thanking God that he was in the right place at the right time.
“If I wasn’t there at the right time, at the right point, nobody would’ve saved the child. So, I realized I’ve been a blessing, I’m an angel. So, I’ve recovered now, I’m okay,” he said.
Police are still investigating the cause of the crash.
