An Oklahoma City man broke multiple bones and feared for his life while rescuing a trapped baby in a 29-vehicle pileup on Monday near Interstate 40, according to KOCO 5 News.
Dakota Wakefield will require a wheelchair for eight weeks, but he regrets nothing because the baby survived, according to the ABC affiliate.
Speaking to KOCO shortly before undergoing surgery on Tuesday, Wakefield recalled the events that have led him to being praised as a “hero” by the local community.
A white Chevrolet in front of him had started sliding and fishtailing in front of him, and then his car started to do the same.
“We hit the white Chevy, which threw us into a guardrail, and then a Jeep smacked our door,” Wakefield said. (RELATED: REPORT: Good Samaritan Helps State Trooper Apprehend Violent Driver After Car Crash)
Fearing for his life, Wakefield stepped out of his car onto the highway. “It was terrible. People were screaming,” said Wakefield.
That’s when he heard a woman in a white Chevrolet screaming for her baby. “My baby! my baby! my baby!”
Wakefield went to open the Chevrolet’s door and had unbuckled the infant, but just then, a car crashed into him and pinned him between the cars for “several minutes.”
He was finally able to wiggle himself free when another car slipped on the ice and hit him again, causing the car pinning him down to bounce off him, reported the news channel.
“My tailbone is broke. My hip is broke in two spots and my pelvis is broke in about four places.”
“Everyone keeps saying I’m a hero, but I don’t feel like a hero. I just feel like I did the right thing,” Wakefield said.