It was Christmas Day and Donald E. Thompson was headed to work as a police officer when he watched a station wagon collide with a retaining wall, skidded across a Los Angeles freeway, and erupted in flames, 20 to 30 feet high.
Thompson knew that the driver wouldn't be able to extricate himself on his own so he approached the car, but by then it was a wall of heat and flames. As he used the driver's door as a shield and reached across the unconscious driver to unbuckle his seatbelt, Thompson only had one thought:
"Is this the way I'm going to die? In a fire Christmas day? Is this how life ends for me?"
Listen to see if Thompson can pull off a Christmas miracle.
For more about Don Thompson visit his page at carnegiehero.org.
Fear on Hold is produced by the Carnegie Hero Fund, Big Science Pods, and Bill Garrison.
To nominate someone for the Carnegie Medal: https://www.carnegiehero.org/nominate/investigative-process/
To search the database of more than 10,000 Carnegie heroes: https://www.carnegiehero.org/heroes/search-heroes/
To learn more about the Hero Fund: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLRhEnfJ3As
Logo Design: Dave Hughes
Video Production: Untitled Content
Art Direction: Dan Minskey
Media Planning: GH Advertising
Music: Jay Green
Narration: Rebecca Senneway
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.