FOXBORO, Mass. — Darius Fleming was there when the New England Patriots needed him Saturday after a slew of injuries dwindled their linebacker corps. He also was at the right place at the right time Thursday when a woman couldn’t escape her car following a multi-car accident.
During Wednesday’s media availability, the New England Patriots linebacker said he witnessed a car crash on Route 1 as he was leaving the stadium last week after practice. A semitruck stopped short, according to Fleming, causing the three cars in front of him to crash. Fleming said he was going to keep driving until he saw smoke in one of the cars.
“The woman in front of me, she kind of was jumping around the car, like passenger seat, back seat, and then I noticed the car started to smoke,” Fleming said. “I didn’t think much of it, I thought she was trying to get out of the car, then I realized the smoke was building up inside the car.
“So, I was like, you know what, I should try to get her out of here, assist here a little bit. I tried opening the doors. It didn’t work. Then I was like, I’ve got to get her out of here, because I don’t know if this lady can breathe or what. So, I started banging on the window. It wouldn’t break. So I started kicking the (passenger side) window. Eventually, it broke. I pulled her out, made sure she was OK. A lady started coming out of the adjacent building and was assisting here.”
Fleming then noticed his leg was bleeding, he said, so he drove back to Gillette Stadium, where he had his leg bandaged up before going to the hospital. Fleming had glass removed from his leg and received 22 stitches.
“She was very appreciative of me helping her,” Fleming said. “She was like, ‘Thank you.’ At this point, I was making sure she was away from the car.”
Fleming played two days later in the Patriots’ divisional round playoff win over the Kansas City Chiefs after starting linebackers Dont’a Hightower (knee), Jamie Collins (back) and Jerod Mayo (shoulder) suffered injuries.
“I didn’t think about (the cut) too much,” Fleming said. “Obviously, you have stitches in your leg, so it’s kind of on your mind. I was just excited to play, because the first thing that came to my mind was, ‘Damn, my leg’s cut up pretty bad.’ I wasn’t sure how that would affect me and affect my game. I was fine, though. It didn’t do much.”
The story is reminiscent of when former-Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork pulled a woman out of an overturned car after last season’s AFC Championship Game.
“We’ve got great guys around here,” Patriots safety Devin McCourty said. “No matter the time — playoffs, regular season — they’re always out in the community trying to save people. Darius, he was really quiet about it, but once the team got a hold of it, the guys on the team, we forced him to give a speech and everything.
“He’ll admit there were probably some easier solutions he could have done, but I think it was nice, nice and dramatic. Kick the window in and pull her out.”
UPDATE (5 p.m.):Â Walpole police released a statement, confirming the accident and the incident:
Thumbnail photo via Stew Milne/USA TODAY Sports Images
