A Hialeah teen was honored as the top recipient of the Miami Police Department's "Do the Right Thing" program Tuesday.
Wendy Rodriguez said it is her first plaque and it’s going up on the wall at home.
"I feel excited, I feel proud," Rodriguez said.
As she should be. The 17-year-old saved someone’s life back in April when a car and motorcycle collided outside her front door.
“I heard a big sound and I got out of my house and I see someone that was knocking on the car that was on fire," she said.
She said when she ran out to the scene, nobody was moving.
“I couldn’t see anything, I just hear a lot of screaming, no one was doing anything," she said.
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So the teen took it upon herself to get out the young man trapped inside.
She was asked if she was scared to reach in and grab for the handle.
"I was just thinking if that would have been me I would want someone to do something about it," Rodriguez said.
Make no mistake about it, it wasn’t just a small fire.
“It was exploding, I mean exploding," she said.
And without hesitation the beautiful young hero put herself at risk.
“I just got a little bit burned," she said.
So she pulled him out and even went to the hospital with the victim because he didn’t speak English.
Rodriguez said the young man she saved is 24 years old. And because of her heroics he’s alive and now the proud father of a new born daughter.
She wants anyone who sees anyone in need, in any capacity to “Do the right thing.”
“I think that will help others. I’ve seen a lot of car accidents and they just stand, they don’t know what to do," she said.
Rodriguez is also working with Miami-Dade Police at an after-school program. She says she now wants to be a police officer.
