HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, who is also a physician, was one of the people who stopped to help when his security detail spotted a vehicle upside down in a lava field Thursday while he was on his way to a Big Island event.

Before becoming governor, Green was an emergency room doctor in rural parts of the Big Island.

“He was upside down in a totally smashed up van,” Green told Hawaii News Now of the driver. “It appears he launched about 50 to 60 feet into the air and into the gulch, so his car was destroyed and we were able to get him out through the front windshield, removed a lot of rock and seven or eight citizens with me, we just pulled this guy out.”

The man, who was wearing a seatbelt, had a few cuts and bruises and seemed to be OK, Green said.

Green later spoke at a blessing ceremony for Waikoloa Solar and Storage.

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