HEROIC RESCUE: 'God really sent this man to save me, help me'

SHELBY, N.C. — A National Guard soldier and a Shelby mother have a bond for life now, after he saved her from a serious car accident this week.

Staff Sgt. Cory Hinkle pulled Brandy Guin out of her crushed car Monday night after she was in a head-on collision as gasoline spilled around the vehicle.

"(I) tried to step out of my car, but I quickly realized my ankle was very obviously broken," Guin said.

"I grabbed her because I could see fuel spilling out from under the vehicle," Hinkle said.

Hinkle and another man took Guin across the street as the car burst into flames, sending debris flying.

"He laid his body over mine to protect me from the debris," Guin described.

"She would scream and I would just tell her, 'It's got to go through me before it hits you,'" Hinkle said.

The explosions were scary to Guin but familiar to Hinkle, who cleared roadside bombs during a tour in Iraq; one of those bombs exploded near him.

"It's been a long time since I felt that fire and explosion behind me like it did Monday night," Hinkle said.

But Hinkle refused to leave her unguarded, and refuses to believe his actions were exceptional.

"I didn't do anything special. I was in the right place at the right time," Hinkle said.

"He said, 'I have got you, I'll take care of you,' and I don't know what I would have done without him," Guin said.

Guin was released from a hospital Friday. Her husband said once she's fully recovered, he hopes the two families can get together and have dinner as friends.

"God really sent this man to save me and help me," Guin said.