Patriots LB Darius Fleming needed 22 stitches after saving woman from burning car
New England Patriots linebacker Darius Fleming played in last Saturday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs with 22 stitches in his leg, He sustained the injury while saving a woman from a burning vehicle.
St. Rita High School in Chicago, Fleming’s alma mater, released a statement Tuesday night praising the 26-year-old for kicking through a car window to help save a woman who was trapped inside.
One word: LegenDARIUS, keep making Rita proud on & off the field! #MustangPride #LetsGoPats @dfleming58 pic.twitter.com/1Mja2ZWh6A
— Brian Patrick (@brianflisk) January 20, 2016
As Ben Volin of the Boston Globe notes, the accident involved three cars and took place outside Gillette Stadium on Thursday night. Fleming kicked a window out when he noticed the car smoking and suffered a gash on his leg.
“She was attempting to kick the window out but she was a small lady,” Fleming recalled. “I didn’t panic, but I was just like, ‘I got to get her out.’ I tried to break (the window) with my elbow, but that didn’t work, so I just started kicking the window. Eventually it broke, pulled her out, made sure she was OK, and I looked at my leg and I noticed it was bleeding pretty bad.”
We hear plenty of stories about idiotic things players do off the field, and one of the most recent also came from Foxboro. Fleming deserves all the credit in the world for what he did. He brushed his own health aside to save another person.
Photo: Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports