It was Christmas Day and Donald E. Thompson was headed to work as a police officer when he watched a station wagon collide with a retaining wall, skidded across a Los Angeles freeway, and erupted in flames, 20 to 30 feet high.

Thompson knew that the driver wouldn't be able to extricate himself on his own so he approached the car, but by then it was a wall of heat and flames. As he used the driver's door as a shield and reached across the unconscious driver to unbuckle his seatbelt, Thompson only had one thought:

"Is this the way I'm going to die? In a fire Christmas day? Is this how life ends for me?"

Listen to see if Thompson can pull off a Christmas miracle.

For more about Don Thompson visit his page at carnegiehero.org.

Fear on Hold is produced by the Carnegie Hero Fund, Big Science Pods, and Bill Garrison.

To nominate someone for the Carnegie Medal: https://www.carnegiehero.org/nominate/investigative-process/
To search the database of more than 10,000 Carnegie heroes: https://www.carnegiehero.org/heroes/search-heroes/
To learn more about the Hero Fund: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLRhEnfJ3As

Logo Design: Dave Hughes
Video Production: Untitled Content
Art Direction: Dan Minskey
Media Planning: GH Advertising
Music: Jay Green
Narration: Rebecca Senneway