Syracuse, New York (WSYR-TV) - It was a little more than three months ago when a terrible crash shut down I-690 east, on the first day of the State Fair.
On August 21, a truck rammed into a pedestrian bridge, sending concrete pouring down onto a family of seven inside their SUV.
Tuesday, one of the first people to arrive at that crash scene was honored by the Red Cross as a "Real Hero."
Dr. Michael Loeb was at the scene seconds after the accident happened. He is a resident at St. Joseph's Hospital and was on his way home from a long overnight shift at Community General.
Dr. Loeb was heading west on I-690, when he noticed there was no traffic coming in the other direction. When he saw why, he stopped to help without giving it a second thought.
“Actually the day of the crash was the day after one of the most brutal calls I’d ever had. It had just been a crazy night.”
Despite the fact he hadn’t slept in nearly 30 hours, “My first reaction was ‘I need to get over there,’ my second was ‘This isn’t going to be pretty.’”
Dr. Loeb pulled his car to the side of the road, crossed lanes of traffic and rushed to calm the family inside the SUV. Miraculously, all seven of them survived the horrific crash.
They had a chance to meet Dr. Loeb on the day they went home from the hospital.
“They were very sweet, appreciative, thankful, gave me hugs and I was glad they were recovering and heading home. That's all I hope for when I stop at an accident, is that everyone's going to head home in one piece.”
Because the accident on I-690 wasn't the first he's stopped at, in all, the young doctor has come across eight accident scenes. He says his fiancé has grown so accustomed to him stopping to help she now gets out of the car to help keep traffic away.
As for that saying about being in the right place as the right time, “I can't argue with it too much because of how many times it's happened to me. I like to think I’m the right person in the wrong place at the right time because I like to think I’m able to help.”
No doubt others are thankful, as well. Eight times he's been either the first or one of the first people to arrive at a scene, before any emergency responders.
As for whether he considers himself a hero, he says he's honored and a bit overwhelmed, but said that stopping to help is more his nature than heroic.
Several other "Real Heroes" were honored at the Red Cross breakfast. They include a firefighter who put saving children before himself and court officers who helped rescue workers after scaffolding collapsed at the county courthouse.
