Parramatta Eels NRL coach Jason Ryles has been hailed a hero after helping rescue a woman from her burning car in Wollongong. The dramatic rescue unfolded as Ryles was driving home along New Mount Pleasant Road following his team’s loss to South Sydney on Thursday night.
Coach Spots Overturned Car with Flames
Ryles spotted a car flipped on its side with flames shooting from it and a young woman trapped inside, standing upright but unable to escape. He immediately pulled over and leapt into action, joining several other drivers who had stopped at the scene.
“What an incredible story this was,” Sunrise reporter Jake Lyle said. “It happened just as Jason Ryles was driving home absolutely stewing after Parramatta’s loss to South Sydney on Thursday night. He spotted this car flipped over on its side, flames shooting out the side of it, and a young woman trapped inside.”
Rescue in the Nick of Time
Still wearing his blue Parramatta Eels polo, Ryles and the other good Samaritans worked together to smash through the car’s glass window using a metal bottle. It was Ryles who ultimately pulled the young woman from the vehicle to safety. The rescue happened in the nick of time, with the entire car engulfed in flames just three minutes later.
Police arrived on scene shortly after the rescue. Ryles later said the incident happened so quickly and admitted it snapped him out of the mood he was in following Thursday’s game. The woman’s condition has not been disclosed, but she was fortunate the Eels coach and other motorists were on the scene when they were.
