College football season is a few months away, but Kenneth Sharpe has already made the biggest play of his life. The Winston-Salem State running back is being called a hero by State Troopers after rescuing a teenager from a fiery wreck in Warren County (NC) on Friday.
Sharpe pulled 13-year-old Benjamin Rodwell out of a burning vehicle following an accident that claimed the life of his 17-year-old brother Zachary.
“He was about four feet from the fire,” Sharpe told WRAL. “And I got to him. I was about a good five or six (feet). And I told him ‘Hey crawl to me, crawl to me.’ I grabbed him. I pulled him on my shoulder and I automatically started taking him to the car.”
Whitaker drove to Halifax Regional Medical Center in Roanoke Rapids while Sharpe kept the teenager awake. There were severe injuries to the lower half of Rodwell’s body, Sharpe said.
“I said ‘What’s your favorite color,'” he said. “He said ‘My favorite color is orange.’ I said ‘What sport do you like to play?’ He said ‘I like to play football.'”
Sharpe’s story is a refreshing change from recent headlines showing college football players accused of crimes on a daily basis. The 19-year-old running back comes from a family of fire fighters, and he definitely made the family proud.