Waterville teen rescues dad trapped under car

WATERVILLE – A 15-year-old girl used a winch and boom on a wrecker to free her father who was trapped under a car when it became unhooked from chains holding it up.

“I was lucky I took first aid classes and CPR and learned how to run the winch and boom on the wrecker,” Rose Pullen said Tuesday, four days after what could have been a much more serious accident.

Bill Pullen, who works at the family-owned Freddie’s Service Center in East Vassalboro, said he had raised the Pontiac Sunbird six feet onto its front bumper so he could remove the gas tank.

When the car somehow became unhooked, the trunk came down on Pullen’s back, pinning him. He was not crushed because the thin floor of the trunk gave way.

“I heard Dad screaming. I don’t think I ever ran so fast in my life,” Rose said.

The Erskine Academy student said she got into the tow truck, started it and lowered the boom so her father could reach the hooks and attach them to the car’s bumper. The teen-ager then engaged the hydraulic boom and lifted the car so her father could crawl out.

Pullen, who suffered broken bones in his right foot and cuts and bruises from the weight of the car, said he had taught his daughter how to use the winch and boom “for a rainy day – you never know what’s going to happen.”