When a St. Paul Park man saw a crashed vehicle on fire in St. Paul and the driver unconscious behind the wheel, he thought: “I had to get him out, no matter what.”

“There was no choice,” Michael E. Coy said Thursday. “He was going to burn alive if he didn’t, and there was no way I was going to be able to withstand that.”

The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission announced Thursday that Coy is among 17 people who they’ll award the Carnegie Medal, North America’s highest civilian honor for heroism.

The rescue received international attention after cameras on the car of one of the good Samaritans captured the dramatic events along Interstate 94 near Snelling Avenue. The Minnesota State Patrol presented six people with its Meritorious Citizenship Award for the rescue.

Sam Orbovich, a retired attorney who survived the crash on April 18, 2024, said he nominated all six of the people for the Carnegie Medal.

The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission selected Coy for its honor because they determined he “was the only one who entered the car from the passenger door, taking on significantly more risk than the others outside the car,” according to Jewels Phraner, director of outreach and communications.

“Mike’s bravery in reaching into my burning car to reposition me was extraordinary, and that heroism posed a great personal risk to himself,” Orbovich said in a Thursday statement. “I would not be alive today if it weren’t for Mike and the other five people who saved me from my burning car: Kadir Tolla, David Klepaida, Tesfaye Deyasso, Lacie Kramer, and Tessa Sand.”

In the flames

Orbovich, now 72, swerved to avoid hitting another vehicle, causing him to strike a lamppost and guide rail. The vehicle started on fire.

Coy, a 53-year-old UPS over-the-road semi driver, was heading to their Eagan facility when he saw the crash ahead. He’s worked for UPS since 1999.

Coy “immediately went to the scene, pulling on the handles of both doors on the driver’s side before he realized they were blocked by the guide rail,” said a description from the Hero Fund Commission. “Coy ran around the vehicle as flames from beneath and beside the vehicle licked at his feet and lower legs. He opened the front, passenger door and kneeled on the seat but the flames caused him to move to prevent being burned.

“Coy helped Orbovich remove his seat belt, then helped him position himself to sit on the console with his feet against the driver’s door,” the description continued. “He intended to drag Orbovich backwards out the door as other bystanders tried in vain to open the driver’s door or break the window.

“Flames soon entered the passenger compartment through the door opening and the dashboard, vents, and floorboards. Blistering heat forced Coy out through the passenger door as flames soon fully engulfed the passenger compartment and blocked Coy from re-entering.”

A Minnesota Department of Transportation “highway helper” used a window-punch tool to break windows. Orbovich pushed his legs through the opening and Coy and others pulled him out. They carried him to the highway.

‘No questions’ about stepping in for rescue

Orbovich was taken to the hospital for his injuries, as was Coy for treatment of smoke inhalation and heat burns to his face, arms and legs. Both men recovered.

At the hospital, Coy said his wife wanted him to promise her he wouldn’t do something like that again.

“I told her that I couldn’t make her that promise because if I had not done anything, I said you would have lost a huge part of who I was that day anyways,” Coy said.

In the moments of the rescue, Coy said he wasn’t worried about his own safety, “not that I don’t love my life and my wife and my family. … I just had to do it. There were no questions about it.”

Coy said he’s honored to be selected for the Carnegie Medal, though he wishes all the rescuers had also been awarded. Orbovich has stayed in contact with his rescuers, and Coy said he finds him to be kind and appreciative.

“Everybody’s worth saving, but it was nice to save someone with such a kind heart,” he said.