Mass. Firefighter Rescues Driver From Fiery Wreck

PEABODY, Mass. -- The teen driver pulled from his burning vehicle by firefighters early Sunday morning has been released from Massachusetts General Hospital.

Robert Habeeb Jr., 18, of Peabody suffered a variety of relatively minor injuries after an accident only yards from his home on Perley Avenue.

"He fell asleep driving home," said his father, Robert Habeeb Sr. "He doesn't remember anything."

After the crash, he said, his son was "in and out of consciousness." Firefighters had to climb atop the overturned, burning car and search for the driver.

"I just want to thank the Peabody Fire Department and Police Department for finding Robert and pulling him out of the car and saving his life," said an emotional Robert Sr. "When I think of what might have happened if they'd come a minute later ..."

His son's ailments include a throat irritated from all the smoke he was breathing in.

"He's still coughing up black stuff," Habeeb said.

In addition, his pelvis hurts, his back hurts, he has a lump on his head and burns on his hands, and remains groggy.

"He's pretty beat-up, but he's here with us and that's all that counts," Habeeb said.

The younger Habeeb is eager to visit with the firefighters who rescued him and thank them in person, his father said.

One witness to the crash scene, neighbor Charles Annino, called his mere survival a miracle. The elder Habeeb agreed.

"If you saw the car, you would think that, too," he said. "The tow-truck people said it was the worst wreck they'd ever picked up. ... Robert had an angel on his shoulder."

Robert Habeeb Jr., a Peabody High senior, is the youngest of four children. At the time of the accident, he was returning from "hanging out" with friends, according to his father. His car smashed through a tree stump, crashed into a stone wall and sailed on, apparently airborne, into a house on Herrick Road, where both the home and the car began to burn.

The car was wedged against the house, on its side and "fully involved" at both ends, according to officials, as Habeeb was pulled through the passenger window by four Peabody firefighters.

Peabody fire Capt. Dale Kimball judged the scene as the most horrific he'd ever seen in more than a decade as a firefighter. He was not certain, following the rescue, if Habeeb would survive.

Peabody police have not involved the state police accident reconstruction team in the incident. No charges have been filed, and they say the accident remains "under investigation."

McClatchy-Tribune News Service