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Phila. Police Officer Speaks Out After Being Rescued From Burning Patrol Car By Good Samaritans

By Walt Hunter

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Forty-eight hours after he was trapped inside his burning patrol car following an accident on a South Philadelphia street, Officer Mark Kimsey, walking on crutches, his girlfriend at his side, returned to the 17th Police District to tell his remarkable story of survival -- and the two Good Samaritans who saved his life.

"Absolutely," Kimsey told CBS 3's Walt Hunter, "They were heroes, they saved my life."

Kimsey explained as he sat trapped in his wrecked car, with flames spreading toward him, two Good Samaritans, 17-year-old Joe Chambers from Delaware County and Dante Johnson, a neighborhood resident, reached in and pulled him out through a window.

Officer Kimsey, who is in his second year on the force, says he plans to take his two rescuers out for a steak dinner once he fully recovers from the leg injury and a concussion.

Meanwhile, Kimsey's commanding officer says while the media often do stories on police officers saving lives, it is refreshing and inspiring to see two total strangers, with only a moment's notice, take immediate action to save an officer's life.

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