NBC WashingtonMove over Superman there’s a new superhero in town.
The Mirror report that when Charlotte Heffelmire’s dad was being crushed by a truck, the 5ft 6in student leapt into action.
Astoundingly, she used what has now been called her ‘superhuman strength’ to lift a pick-up truck off her dad and save her family from a dangerous fire.
Her dad, Eric, had been working in the family garage on the truck when the jack keeping it in the air slipped and pinned him to the ground. To make matters worse the truck began leaking petrol and caught fire.
NBC WashingtonFortunately, the 19-year-old high school student from Virginia, US, was able to momentarily use ‘super strength’ to lift the truck and free her dad before some nearby propane tanks caught alight.
Eric Heffelmire told NBC Washington:
We had a bunch of propane containers and they were cooking off – just fireballs.
I felt the weight shift, and I said, ‘You almost got it,’ and then it was just UGHHHHHHRRR, and suddenly I’m pulled out.
Quick thinking Charlotte dealt with the fire by driving the truck away from the property and spraying the house with a garden hose until firefighters arrived and helped her grandmother and three-month-old niece escape the home.
NBC WashingtonIn recognition of her bravery and the miraculous escape, Charlotte was given the Citizen Lifesaving Award by the Fairfax County fire department.
It seems though that despite being super strong, she isn’t indestructible as the heroic girl hurt her back and burnt her feet which stopped her from returning to school at the US Air Force Academy.
Charlotte now hopes for a career in the military saying:
If I can’t do any of the military branches, then [I’ll] probably just [do] intelligence or government work.
Who knows in a few years maybe Charlotte will have gone from saving her dad, to saving the world with The Avengers.
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.