Watch CBS News

Bay Area CrossFit Coach Scales 25-Foot Wall, Saves Family After Crash

LOS GATOS (KPIX 5) – A Bay Area CrossFit coach is being called a hero after he used his herculean body to save a family following a car crash.

Greg Pena was getting ready to coach a class on the morning of March 26th at the Los Gatos Swim and Racquet club. The workout area is right next to a retaining wall for Highway 17.

All of a sudden, he heard a loud crash, and saw a plume of smoke. A Ford Expedition with six passengers overturned, with a mom, and her three young children inside.

• ALSO READ: Rockies Fan Throws Back Giants Home Run Ball; Family Kicked Out Of Stadium

Without even thinking, Pena scaled the 25 foot wall. Using an adjacent fence to his advantage, he got up the wall and onto the freeway within seconds.

CrossFit Coach Saves Family
CrossFit Coach Greg Pena shows how he climbed a 25-foot wall to save a family following a crash on Highway 17 on March 26, 2016. (CBS)

Pena gave first aid to one of the teenagers who was bleeding from the head, and then cut free the young children who were dangling upside in their car seats.

Jessica Magdaleno was the driver that day, and said everyone walked away from the crash. Magdaleno told KPIX 5 how scared and alone she felt that day, when out of nowhere, she says her angel appeared.

"Nobody was there, and when I turned, he was there! I said, 'Oh! Can you please get my babies?' 'Yeah, yeah, yeah,' he said. 'I'm going to help you. It's OK, it's OK,'" Magdaleno recalled.

• ALSO READ: Man Rescued After Proposing To Girlfriend On Cliff Arrested For Drugs

When asked about saving the family, Pena said, "I don't like to be called a hero, I like to think that anybody would've done this. I hope anybody would've done this."

Magdaleno, a devout Catholic and said a prayer the following Sunday for Pena.

A firefighter at the scene was impressed by Pena's acts, and has nominated him a citizen's medal of valor award in Santa Clara County.

"I know he wouldn't call himself that, but yeah, I think what he did was heroic," said firefighter Scott Graham, who nominated Pena.

When asked if he would risk his life and do it all over again, Pena said absolutely.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.