CCU student hailed as hero

Timothy Gayton, a 19-year-old Coastal Carolina University student from Rock Hill, is being called a hero this summer.

According to the Rock Hill Herald, Gayton, who is home for the summer, rescued Chip McLean, 55, who was trapped in his crushed SUV after a tree fell on his vehicle during a thunderstorm.

McLean told newspaper reporter Kimberly Dick that he had been driving home from work around 10 p.m. when a tree fell on the car and crushed the roof and buckled the door so that he couldn't get out.

Gayton, who lived nearby, heard the crash and ran out into the pouring rain to see if he could help. He wrapped his shirt around his fist, broke the window and helped McLean to crawl out.