Bulletproof BMW Helps Iraqi Man Save 70 People From Snipers

Ever called a friend a legend for picking you up on the way to town? You might need to re-evaluate your definitions after you read about the man who saved more than 70 people from sniper fire by driving around in a bulletproof BMW.

Ako Abdulrahman lives in the war-torn city of Kirkuk, in Iraq, where soldiers and civilians are fighting IS hard. Snipers are an ever-present and very real threat.

When the jihadi militants first started to advance on the city he bought the heavyweight BMW from an auction for $10,000, reports claim, after which he and his friends drove around the city safely.

But more recently the genuine hero has been using it to rescue people injured by sniper fire. Medical crews simply get shot if they try to help, so Ako is single-handedly saving these people’s lives.

CNN quotes him as saying: “I told myself, this is the right time to help people, this is the right moment to do it. I am a fighter and I have a bulletproof car, shame on me if I can’t help.

“I kept telling myself, my people are in danger, they need me, my city is in danger, I have to protect it.”

There are apparently more than 50 bullet strikes on the car, and Ako claims that BMW even offered to exchange his old car for a new one so that they could display his own in their headquarters. He turned them down.

“I am not a hero,” he told CNN. “I am only an ordinary Iraqi who wants to defeat his country from criminals and killers.”

Legend.