Saving lives is not in his job description, but a month ago a Direct TV employee was in the right place at the right time when he ran into a burning house to save a veteran in Mesa.
On Tuesday, the Mesa Fire and Medical Department honored the Good Samaritan, Joseph Spencer, with an award.
Spencer was just driving home from work on April 11 when neighbors flagged him down to the burning house.
"That's when I heard someone saying, ‘I'm dying, I'm dying,' and we went over to the master bedroom window and I broke it out," Spencer said.
Inside was a Vietnam veteran, a double amputee, who could not escape his burning house on his own.
"We have to get this guy out. There's no time to wait," Spencer said about what was going through his mind at the time.
The Mesa Fire and Medical Department honored Spencer, along with neighbors Topper Johnson and John Hank, for helping save a man's life and putting their own lives at risk.
"The man driving by, he doesn't even know my family or the situation. The fact that he would go into that house the way it was on fire is just amazing," said Summer Cole, the veteran's daughter. She was overwhelmed with emotion realizing what happened that night.
"[I] got on my hands and knees and located Sly about in the middle of his room," Spencer said.
Even though smoke filled the house and it was as hot as an oven, Spencer went in and dragged the veteran out, handing him off to neighbors who carried him to safety.
"None of this has really set in. I'm just a guy who was driving by," Spencer said.
But the community has another name for him: Hero.
Cole said her father is now at the VA Hospital recovering from his injuries.
