The city of Clemson Police Department awarded their Life-Saving Award to Carles A. Segars III (Delta Omicron–Clemson ’22) during a Clemson City Council meeting on Monday, November 6, 2023, for pulling two people from a burning car.
On the evening of September 2, 2023, Segars, a forest resource management junior, and Joseph Pope, a mechanical engineering junior, were headed home when they came upon a wrecked car. They approached the car, knocked on the window, and through the smoke and airbags, they could see the driver could not open their door from the inside. The duo retrieved a hammer from their vehicle, broke the driver’s window, and pulled him out of his seat and into Segar’s truck bed.
They then saw through the smoke a Sophia Vega, a sophomore biochemistry major, who was unconscious on the passenger side. despite flames coming out of the passenger side, the two broke the window, unlocked the door, and pulled Vega out of the car.
Police and EMTs arrived and after resuscitating and stabilizing Vega, transported her via helicopter to Greenville Memorial Hospital. Despite breaking her leg, ankle, shoulder, and spine and having her colon split in half by her seat belt, Vega was able to thank her rescuers.
Read more at The Tiger.
