A man from Coatesville, Pennsylvania, employed as a UPS driver is getting a lot of attention for helping save a family from floodwaters.
Joe Hilferty, 21, helped two children and a dog out of a vehicle stranded at the underpass at SEPTA’s Thorndale Station located in Caln Township, Chester County, CBS Philly reported Friday.
The young man said he was busy putting air in his tires at a Wawa store when he heard a woman screaming for help because her daughters were trapped inside the vehicle.
“I hopped over and assisted her, told her to roll down the windows so I could get the two little girls out of the car so I reached my hands in there and unbuckled the seat and got them out,” Hilferty recalled.
“After I gave one of the little girls to the trooper, that was around 20 feet away, I went back, got the other girl and handed her to the mother,” he added.
Once he rescued the two children, he helped the trooper pull the dog out of the car.
Photojournalist IrishEyez shared images of the incident, showing the thigh-high floodwaters and the stranded vehicle:
Hilferty told Fox 29 there was no question in his mind that he was going to help in the rescue, even if he got wet.
“I had to. My mother raised me that way. If people are in need of help go help them,” he noted.
“I think my son is a hero. Every other day he does something that surprises me,” Kathleen Hilferty, his mom, stated, adding that helping other people was what he does.
“He has a special needs brother that is a twin brother that has a chronic illness and maybe that’s where he got it from. I’m a proud mom,” she explained.
The young man said he did not catch the family’s name but hoped someone would do the same thing for his own mother.