Columbia (WLTX) -- It takes an act far beyond the call of duty to earn a police officer a Medal of Valor. One has been honored for his act in June of this year.
The presentation of Officer Jason Whittle's Medal of Valor took longer than the heroic act in late June which earned him the honor.
"I heard a transformer explode," he remembered. "You don't think about it, I think personally it was a reaction, we have police training but it doesn't teach you those type of things."
Whittle was passing through Forest Acres, a location that was not in his jurisdiction, when he found himself on Forest Drive.
Michael DeWayne Samuels, Jr. was delivering dry cleaning and heard a loud bang. A woman had run into a telephone pole which split in half, leaving wires draped across her car.
"I seen sparks going up and down," Samuels said. "People were saying, don't touch, don't touch the car, because the power lines were on top of the car."
While many others looked on, Samuels helped Whittle pull the woman to safety before the car was engulfed in flames.
"It was an act of faith. I wasn't too much worrying about anything happening to me cause I have faith in God so he got my back," Samuels said.
Whittle said, "Not everyone gets a chance to show that courage they have and I was just in the right situation where I did."
10/7/2009 4:49:12 PM
