Vin Diesel channeled his Fast & Furious character Dominic Toretto in real life to save strangers in a horrific car accident.
The 56-year-old Hollywood icon has been the Fast & Furious franchise’s frontman for two decades. The star has been named one of the world’s highest-grossing actors owing to the film craze and influence across the world. There is no doubt action movie fans have been keeping the hype for the franchise alive even after twenty years. The huge commercial success of the series over the initial years prompted the release of over ten movies with a combined gross of more than $7 billion. But Vin Diesel himself was part of an incredible moment that is only fit for the silver screen. The star jumped into action to save a family inside a car that had caught on fire. And it’s lucky he was there at the right time.
Photo by Frazer Harrison/WireImage
Vin Diesel ran towards a ‘burning car’ moments before it burst into an inferno
Vin Diesel’s real-life Fast & Furious moment came right after the release of the first film of the series. The celebrity was riding his motorbike through Hollywood when he witnessed a dangerous car collision. The actor immediately decided to help the passengers and ran towards the wreckage.
He reportedly helped in pulling multiple family members out from the car wreckage at a crucial time. Within minutes after his heroic act, the car burst into flames. No passengers in the car were seriously harmed, as they were able to get out of the vehicle in time.
Not many people would be willing to risk their lives to save strangers, but Vin showed that Dominic Toretto lives somewhere in his psyche.
Photo by Sven Creutzmann/Mambo photo/Getty Images
Vin couldn’t ‘save’ his best friend
Fast & Furious fans have gone through a roller coaster of emotions over the past twenty years. The tragic death of main cast member Paul Walker following a car accident sent shockwaves around the globe. Vin was especially close to Paul, and the actor’s emotional interview talking about the huge loss shows how much he still ‘misses’ him.
Vin could not save his close pal, Paul, who faced a similar accident with his racing driver friend Roger Rodas in 2013. The duo were also victims of a high-speed collision where their car hit a lamp post at a speed of almost 140 km/h. As per reports, Walker and Rodas took their last breaths minutes after the crash as the car went into flames. Their injuries from the collision turned fatal.
Years later, Vin paid tribute to his friend Paul by naming his daughter Pauline. The star gushed over his friend’s eternal influence in his life.
He said: “There’s no other person that I was thinking about as I was cutting this umbilical cord. I just . . . knew he was there.”
“It felt like, you know, a way to keep his memory a part of my family and a part of my world,” Vin said in 2015 while welcoming his daughter with partner Paloma Jiménez.
