Saints Lineman Mitchell Loewen Helps Save Man Who Drove SUV Off Fourth Floor Of Parking Garage

Saints third-year defensive lineman Mitchell Loewen leapt to the rescue of a man who managed to drive his Mercedes SUV off the fourth floor of a garage in New Orleans Sunday, helping to pull the man from his utterly obliterated vehicle. Per :

Mitchell Loewen, 25, was enjoying brunch with his wife and 2-year-old son at Willa Jean when the car came crashing down near the intersection of Girod Street and O’Keefe Avenue. His back was to the window he said, and the impact sounded like an explosion.

“People were screaming, it sounded like a bomb or an earthquake or something,” Loewen said.

So what does a luxury SUV look like after it’s fallen four stories and landed upside down in the street? Not great:

Apparently a whole crowd of people rushed out into the street but were mostly content to stand by and gawk, before our hero Loewen prompted them into action:

“There were a bunch of people standing around, but not approaching the car and I was like ‘What’s up, let’s help this guy,’” Loewen said Monday. “I mean, obviously there was someone in there, I wasn’t going to just stand by and watch. It was a life or death situation.”

Loewen and several mustered bystanders reportedly pushed the car onto its side and then onto its wheels, but the situation became dicey when the driver “stopped responding to Loewen’s questions.” Loewen and the group made the decision to help the man “sit up comfortably” inside the car but not remove him from the vehicle, lest they cause further injury. Paramedics were able to pull the driver from the vehicle, and an NOPD spokesperson says he is “expected to survive.”

Loewen told ESPN the experience of saving someone’s life left its mark:

“It was life-changing, man...I had no hesitation at all about what needed to be done. And it was just that kind of feeling and the adrenaline pumping. I mean, that’s life to the fullest right there. I felt like I was being led by God to go help that man.”

Good rule: If you’re going to drive your car off a building, it would be wise to do it with a gigantic and superhumanly strong human nearby who can inspire frozen pedestrians and also flip your car over.