Former UFC fighter turned comedian Brendan Schaub retired from the octagon in 2015, but a recent incident saw him become a different kind of champion outside of the ring when he successfully rescued three children from near-certain death following a car crash in Los Angeles.
Schaub shared the story on his podcast, The Fighter and The Kid, which he co-hosts with fellow comedian Bryan Callen (Schooled), about how a date night turned into an episode he’ll likely never forget. The accident took place in LA’s Haskell Avenue, where Schaub and his wife noticed a halted 18-wheeler truck right next to a wrecked vehicle with one small child on top crying for help.
The sight of a kid is what prompted Schaub to move fast towards the totaled vehicle, despite the imminent danger of such situations, where he noticed two other children trapped inside the car that was next to a gas leak spilling out from the truck. Upon reaching the car no amount of UFC strength was enough to open the jammed doors, so Schaub and another person managed to break what remained of the car’s windows to pull out the two kids, although sadly upon doing that he noticed the children’s mother had not survived the crash.
As seen in the clip from the podcast, Schaub, a father himself, becomes visibly emotional telling the story but he made sure to keep the children from watching this harrowing scene and told the older brother how brave he was for what he did. As of this week, the father who was behind the wheel and who Schaub saw fleeing the scene has been charged with murder and four counts of attempted murder for purposely trying to crash his car against incoming traffic.
The story does not end there though, seeing as Schaub was so moved by the tragic event that he helped promote a GoFundMe initiative started by the victim’s family, after already agreeing to pay for the funeral since he wants to make sure the children are taken care of in some way. At the time of writing, GoFundMe's initial $30,000 target had been far exceeded into the $70k mark.
An eyewitness who helped escort the kids away from danger corroborated Schaub’s account of the incident, confirming that hitting those fancy UFC moves may require as much bravery as being in shape and having a proper mindset. Schaub has been retired from the cage for nearly six years now, so fans won't find him as one of the fighters on UFC 4.
Source: The Fighter and the Kid Clips