PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. — Heroism can often come in many shapes and sizes.
Six Rome High School football players displayed their courage on Friday morning after a woman, who a witness believed was in her 50s, was trapped in her car following an accident in the middle of an intersection, according to a viral Facebook post from Luis Goya.
Goya, an educator at Rome City Schools, said he heard a loud noise at an intersection while in front of the school on his morning duty. While running towards the intersection, he says he noticed a wreck involving two cars.
As the lady was trapped in her car, Goya noticed that she couldn't get out.
"Smoke started to come out of the car, and fluid started to spill everywhere in the intersection," Goya recounted in his Facebook post. "The door was jammed and in terrible shape."
While he was on the phone with the 911 dispatcher, Goya said he witnessed "something amazing."
A group of football players from Rome High School who had witnessed the incident ran to the car and started helping the lady, Goya said. He said that the players started using their strength to pry the door open so the woman could be released.
The students were named as Cesar Parker, Treyvon Adams, Antwiion Carey, Messiah Daniels, Tyson Brown and Alto Moore, according to the Rome City Schools' Facebook page.
After a few seconds of maneuvering the door back and forth, they were able to open the door and helped the woman get out of her car, Goya said. Although she was still shaking and panicked, Goya said that the players gave her comfort.
"The Rome High School football players really showed up today," Goya said on his Facebook post that now has over 6,000 likes and 3,000 shares. "They went above and beyond to help this lady without hesitation."
According to an incident report acquired by 11Alive, the accident occurred at Veteran's Memorial Highway at approximately 8 a.m. A 16-year-old was cited with a failure to yield while turning left after an officer reviewed surveillance video from the intersection's camera, the Rome Police Department said.