Everyone knows and loves “Machete” actor Danny Trejo for being one of the best anti-heroes in Hollywood. But as it turns out, this actor is a hero in real life as well!
After serving time in a California prison as an inmate decades ago, Trejo has become one of the most recognizable on-screen faces in Hollywood. He’s also a very accomplished voice actor with his recognizable trademark gruff persona.
The 75-year old has made a career on his tough, intimidating appearance. However, this tough guy was scared after he witnessed two cars colliding in front of him in Los Angeles this month, causing one to roll over — trapping a child inside.
Trejo just happened to be on his way to drop off his car for repairs when suddenly chaos erupted on the street. The actor watched as another driver ran a red light, crashing into an SUV which then flipped over onto its roof. Without hesitation, Trejo immediately lept into action, sprinting over to help, where he discovered a boy with special needs trapped inside the overturned vehicle. The child was trapped in his car seat. His mother was screaming from where she was pinned in by the diver’s side door. The boy’s grandmother was inside as well, stuck int he backseat.
Thankfully, another bystander, Monica Jackson, joined Trejo as he crawled inside the car to unbuckle the child and free him from the overturned vehicle. The actor could smell gasoline, yet managed to keep his cool and eventually, with help from Jackson was able to get the child out. At that point, the poor kid was in a panic. As it turns out, Trejo works with special needs children himself, so he knew exactly what he needed to do to distract the boy while firefighters rescued his mom and grandmother from the vehicle.
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“I said, ‘We have to use our superpowers.’ So he screamed, ‘superpowers,’ and we started yelling ‘superpowers’ back and forth to each other,” Trejo said. “I kept facing him away from what was going on.”
And thanks to the heroism of Trejo, Jackson, and the firefighters, the boy, his mom, and grandmother are all going to be okay. While all three were transported to a local area hospital, they didn’t suffer any life-threatening injuries.
Now fans are hailing Trejo as a real-life hero for jumping to the family’s rescue, but he said it never once occurred to him not to help. He was simply compelled to act.
“We are here to serve, we are here to welcome, we are here to love. That’s what we’re supposed to be doing,” he said. “Everything good that has happened to me has happened as a direct result of helping someone else.”
Here’s raw footage of the accident and rescue.
Trejo’s wise words are something we can all take to heart and learn from. Learn more about how the actor became a real-life action hero in the video below. And be sure to share this good news with someone you know.