Schaumburg man hailed for saving life of South Barrington woman
A Schaumburg man's quick thinking and willingness to act are considered to be the factors that saved the life of a South Barrington woman trapped in her flipped and burning SUV last month.
South Barrington officials presented 31-year-old Matt Kosiarski with the village's Lifesaving Award at their Aug. 9 meeting.
Police Chief Tom Roman said that he 61-year-old village resident was driving east on Mundhank Road east of Barrington Road before her SUV struck something on the road, hit a tree and turned on its side at 8:30 p.m. July 3.
Kosiarski, who was on his way back from delivering a pizza for Rosati's Sports Bar in Hoffman Estates, came across the scene, slowed down, and was rear-ended by the distracted driver behind him.
After making sure the woman in that vehicle was OK, he ran over to where an older man was unsuccessfully trying to break open the window of the tipped-over and burning SUV with a rock.
"To be honest, there wasn't anything going through my mind about whether I should or shouldn't help," Kosiarski said. "I didn't second-guess myself."
He jumped on top of the SUV, where the driver's side door was facing the sky. Unable to get that door open, he got in through the door behind it and helped get the woman free of her seat belt and seat.
He and the other man at the scene lowered the woman to the ground.
"I put her on my back and carried her across the street and put her in my car," Kosiarski said.
Kosiarski said firefighters who extinguished the blaze told him the woman probably would have died of smoke inhalation before they arrived if he hadn't freed her from the vehicle.
"It was way above the call of duty," Chief Roman said of Kosiarski's actions.
Though Roman said the village has had no contact with the woman since her rescue, Kosiarski said she appeared to be OK when he last saw her at the scene. He gives credit to both his employer and the person who ordered the pizza he'd just delivered for putting him in the right place at the right time.
Kosiarski's insurance company paid $1,100 to cover the damage his own vehicle sustained, which he used to cover late payments. Though banged up, the car remains drivable, he said.
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