AUSTIN, Texas — While Vikings wide receiver K.J. Osborn spent the first part of the offseason training in Austin, Texas, it’s what he did off the field Sunday that’s making headlines.
On Sunday night, Osborn hadn’t been in his Uber for long when he says it became clear he was “in the right place at the exact right time.”
“Initially when he crashed, I didn’t even know he was alive,” Osborn told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Schefter’s podcast Monday. “He was kind of in a daze, but I think he could feel the heat coming to his legs — that’s when we tried to talk to him and get him out.”
Osborn said a vehicle that had sped past his Uber only moments before, had then crashed into a pillar under a bridge overpass, becoming engulfed in flames.
“Immediately, I was thinking, ‘This is a big risk. I don’t have experience in this,'” Osborn said.
But experienced or not, Osborn said he, his Uber driver and two others on the road that day, stopped to help save the driver of the burning vehicle.
Osborn said they all moved quickly to check on the driver, who he said they could tell was alive, but appeared to be “out of it.” That’s when, Osborn said, the man “mustered enough strength” to move into the passenger seat and Osborn was eventually able to pull him out of the vehicle and carry him a safe distance away.
Around that time, Osborn said, an ambulance arrived and took the victim to a local hospital to be treated.
While being lauded as a hero, Osborn said it was a group effort to help get the man to safety.
“As I look back on it, I’m just grateful I was in the position to be able to help him — along with the three other heroes who were there — but it was the craziest experience of my life for sure,” he said.
Osborn says he intends to track down the crash victim and visit him “just to know that he’s doing somewhat OK.”
“We’ve had all those Vikings thrillers but that’s a football game … this is real life, and when it comes to saving a human’s life, that’s way bigger than anything I’ve ever experienced.”
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