Good samaritan killed in wreck always strove to help others Antonio thorpe reached into the cab of the overturned suv with one hand, trying to grab the man inside. He held his other hand in the air, outstretched toward interstate 77 with the hope drivers would see him and slow down, his girlfriend told thorpe family members. Thorpe, 34, was killed on i77 northbound near westinghouse boulevard early tuesday as he tried to pull charlotte resident ninh nguyen, 64, to safety after a wreck. A tractortrailer plowed into nguyen overturned suv, killing both men. Thorpe family and friends said tuesday that they were saddened but not surprised by the actions of thorpe, an athletic trainer who always strove to help others. Wanted to be a superhero, said his younger brother, dameko thorpe, 32.A child, we would always fantasize about being extraordinary, about being some kind of action figure or some kind of savior. Dameko thorpe said his older brother encountered nguyen wrecked suv late monday when he was coming home from a friend house with his girlfriend. The woman later recounted what happened to antonio thorpe family. Troopers say the incident started when nguyen and another man were involved in a wreck. The crash caused nguyen suv to flip onto its side in the middle of the traffic lanes. Antonio thorpe didn witness the wreck, relatives said.But when the fayetteville native saw the two overturned cars, he pulled over, ran to the suv and began reaching for the driver. Moments later, a tractortrailer came by, pushing the suv forward on the interstate, which isn welllit, and killing both men. A media alert about the accident went out just before midnight, and wcnctv video from the scene showed a toppled vehicle on i77 swarmed with first responders in the middle of the interstate. Am so sorry, so sorry for the person who died helping my father, said phong nguyen, the 40yearold son of the deceased suv driver. Helping people was in antonio thorpe dna, relatives A line Wedding Dresses and friends said. The trainer had relocated to charlotte from fayetteville two years ago in an attempt to expand his athletic company, bring it fitness, to the queen city. His business partner, d pretlow, called thorpe a yoda dedicated to making people feel better about themselves. Wanted you to feel like you were being led and guided rather than dictated to, pretlow said.Someone was down, antonio became more of a teachercounselorbestfriend than a trainer.As an elementary school student, his mother remembered, thorpe shot up from his chair and raced to help whenever someone dropped their books or pencils. A family photograph, taken at a wedding, shows thorpe opening his shirt to reveal a Cheap Prom Dresses superhero costume underneath his buttondown. Is a hero to my family, phong nguyen told the observer.Don know what else to say.I don know what to do.A hard worker, near retirement Phong nguyen said his family is devastated by the loss of thorpe and his father, ninh, a hardworking man who planned to retire in october. Ninh nguyen immigrated to charlotte from vietnam in 1985 with his wife and two young sons. He never took vacation time and worked long hours for ross stores, a discount clothing Coloured Wedding Dresses retailer with several distribution centers in the area. Nguyen eventually earned enough to pay for most of his extended family to move to the charlotte area, his son said. Never enjoyed life.All he does is work and take care of the family, said phong nguyen, who is a nail technician in charlotte.Was a great man who didn drink or gamble.He was not a chitchatter.They had few details about what caused the initial accident between nguyen and the minivan. Troopers had planned to release more details, but none were available late tuesday. Phong nguyen said he is grateful to antonio thorpe for his attempt to save his father life.He plans to send a thankyou note and gift to thorpe family. Never expect anything like this to happen, phong nguyen www.jb3.co.uk said. The charlotte observer welcomes your comments on news of the day.The more voices engaged in conversation, the better for us all, but do keep it civil.Please refrain from profanity, obscenity, spam, namecalling or attacking others for their views.
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