{"id":857673,"date":"2026-09-23T10:50:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T10:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/857673\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T10:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T10:50:12","slug":"north-carolina-father-and-son-receive-hero-awards-for-saving-man-from-burning-car-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/857673\/","title":{"rendered":"North Carolina father and son receive hero awards for saving man from burning car | New York"},"content":{"rendered":"

A North Carolina<\/a> man who helped his son \u2013 a player for the US army academy college football team \u2013 pull<\/a> a wrecked car\u2019s driver out of the vehicle moments before it burst into flames has earned the highest honor for civilian heroism in the United States and Canada<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Larry Pickett Sr earned the Carnegie medal for heroism for a daring rescue alongside his son, Larry Pickett Jr, on 31 August 2025 outside Fort Montgomery, New York<\/a>, that was captured in headline-grabbing cellphone video, according to a recent announcement from the non-profit organization that administers the award.<\/p>\n

A statement from the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission said the motorist whom the Picketts rescued \u2013 65-year-old David N Denton \u2013 was semiconscious inside his sport utility vehicle after it left a roadway and struck a power pole. The crash caused the pole and power lines \u2013 carrying a total of at least 14,000 volts \u2013 to fall on to the road and Denton\u2019s SUV as Pickett Sr, 46, drove by the wreckage with his family.<\/p>\n

Larry Pickett Sr. Photograph: Carnegie Hero Fund Commission<\/p>\n

Pickett Sr immediately parked before he and Pickett Jr, 20, realized Denton was semiconscious inside his SUV, which had flames burning on the exterior of its passenger side, according to the Carnegie commission. The father and son then advanced toward Denton, opened his driver\u2019s door and each took turns reaching in for him, stepping over a perilous downed power line and evidence of electrical arcing beneath the crashed SUV, the commission\u2019s statement said.<\/p>\n

Pickett Sr successfully removed Denton\u2019s seatbelt after four tries. He and his son together then freed Denton from the car, the commission recounted.<\/p>\n

The elder Pickett then tripped and fell next to the car \u2013 within inches of one of the downed power lines. But he quickly got back on his feet, and Pickett Jr carried Denton across the four-lane road and laid him down on grass, the commission said.<\/p>\n

The commission noted that an eruption of flames enveloped Denton\u2019s car mere seconds later. Firefighters subsequently arrived to extinguish the blaze from a distance out of caution for the live power lines nearby. The power was not shut off until after that \u2013 and even then, it was done remotely, according to the commission.<\/p>\n

\u201cA fire chief at the scene and an electrical engineer later consulted about the incident both agreed that the car\u2019s exterior and surrounding area should have been electrified under the circumstances and could not explain how Pickett, his son and Denton avoided electrocution,\u201d the Carnegie commission\u2019s statement said.<\/p>\n

Denton emerged from the dramatic episode with only abrasions. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital for treatment, was discharged and ultimately recovered.<\/p>\n

Neither of the Picketts was injured.<\/p>\n

On the night that he and his father crossed paths with Denton, Pickett Jr had just played a game for the army college football squad at its home stadium in West Point, New York. He and his family encountered Denton\u2019s crash on their return trip from having dinner at Times Square in New York City.<\/p>\n

Pickett Jr\u2019s sister, Lauren, recorded video of his and Pickett Sr\u2019s efforts to save Denton.<\/p>\n

The footage \u2013 widely circulated on social media \u2013 captured a woman screaming, \u201cLarry, come on! Come on, get him out \u2013 that\u2019s it!\u201d Viewers can see the car engulfed in fire and surrounded by sparking wires.<\/p>\n

In another part of the video, a confused man can be heard saying over popping sounds in the background, \u201cWhat car is this?\u201d Another man can be heard saying, \u201cThat\u2019s your car. You hear it? That\u2019s the tires popping.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pickett Sr later spoke<\/a> with WTVD of his home town Raleigh, North Carolina, and explained how there was \u201cno discussion\u201d between him and his son about whether to aid Denton.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy son just jumped right into action,\u201d Pickett Sr, a business owner, told the news station. \u201cHe mentioned his military training kicked in, and we pulled him out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of his namesake, Pickett Sr also said to the channel: \u201cIt\u2019s just amazing to see him in action. And it\u2019s just not surprising because we\u2019ve watched him his whole life do amazing things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pickett Jr received<\/a> the US army\u2019s soldier\u2019s medal in March, which is the military branch\u2019s highest honor for noncombat actions.<\/p>\n

Pickett Sr was among 16 Carnegie medal recipients named<\/a> on Monday. The medal recognizes those in the US and Canada \u201cwho enter extreme danger while saving or attempting to save the lives of others\u201d, the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission said.<\/p>\n

Philanthropist Andrew Carnegie created that commission after two men sacrificed their lives attempting to rescue others after a deadly 1904 coal-mining accident.<\/p>\n

The Carnegie medal has been awarded to nearly 10,600 individuals since its inception, with more than $47m being given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits and continuing assistance, according to the hero fund commission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A North Carolina man who helped his son \u2013 a player for the US army academy college football…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":857674,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-857673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=857673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=857673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=857673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=857673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}