Man saved from burning car by Vikings' KJ Osborn is reality TV personality
The man Minnesota Vikings wide receiver KJ Osborn helped save from a burning car following a crash in Texas earlier this month was a man by the name of Nelson Thomas, who just so happens to be an actor and reality TV personality.
Thomas competed in The Challenge: World Championship, which began airing on Paramount+ on March 8. The reality TV show puts contestants through grueling physical competitions with the winning team from this season awarded with $500,000.
Thomas was involved in a violent crash that resulted in his vehicle bursting into flames. Osborn and three other bystanders helped pull Thomas from the vehicle, having been in the right place at the right time to provide immediate assistance.
"I was involved in a car accident. I want to thank [KJ Osborn] for being on the scene and filming my rescue. I am forever grateful to Abdulmejied Hairedin, Rita and Arthur [for] pulling me out of a burning vehicle, risking their own lives to save mine," Thomas wrote in a social media post. "Words can’t explain how grateful I am to be alive. God is truly great and he has you in his hands no matter who you are."
The social media post (above) includes video that Osborn recorded as the other bystanders began to help Thomas out of the burning car. Osborn then advances down the embankment off the side of the highway and helps, with the group hurrying to get Thomas as far away from the vehicle as they can.
"I'm kind of still soaking it in. I didn't know it would effect me too much, I thought I would just be able to go to sleep and I'd be fine. But I couldn't sleep," Osborn said, recalling the harrowing incident during a guest appearance on Adam Schefter's podcast.
"I'm like, 'Wow, that was live bullets.' As I kind of look back on it, I was just grateful that I was in the position to be able to help him along with the three other heroes that were there. But it was definitely the craziest experience of my life."
Thomas has previously been a personality or contestant on Are You the One? 3, Invasion of the Champions, and Spies, Lies & Allies, among other shows.
