♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, anne heche. fighting for her life. >> a vehicle into a building, person stuck inside the vehicle -- >> what happened in the days leading up to that horrific crash? >> it erupted into flames. not just the vehicle but the entire home to where we had to fight a structure fire at the same time. >> the emmy winner known for starring in "wag the dog" and "6 days, 7 nights." what she said on her podcast days before the wreck. plus, always faithful. nearly a year after the fall of afghanistan, the story of one marine's desperate effort to get his former interpreter out of the country. >> i have two points of contact at the abbey gate.

i don't anticipate this situation getting better in the morning. >> the taliban has come to kabul. >> reporter: now that he's safe in the u.s., the fight is not over. >> what happens if you go back to afghanistan? >> killed. and the hug. an inspiring display of sportsmanship. >> he wants him to know that it's okay, that he'll be fine. >> on the little league field of dreams.

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♪ good evening. thanks for joining us. tonight, anne heche is in the fight of her life, severely burned after a bizarre crash engulfed her car in flames. heche has made headlines not for just her hollywood roles but because of her high-profile romance with ellen degeneres. what was going on in the days leading up to the tragic wreck? y crash. and a hollywood actress left fighting for her life. anne heche, the emmy award-winning television and film star with a career spanning three decades, horribly injured in a devastating vehicle crash in california. the accident happened mid-morning friday.

heche was driving her blue mini cooper in the mara vista area of los angeles when she collided into this home, sparking two fires. >> it erupted into flames. not just the vehicle but the entire home, to where we had to fight a structure fire at the same time. >> reporter: it look nearly 60 firefighters more than an hour to extinguish the flames. the tenant living inside the home was there during the crash but was not seriously injured. heche was the only person in the vehicle. neighbors who tried to help her still traumatized by what they saw. >> it just seemed like an eternity before the firefighters had the fire out. i was convinced she was 100% passed away. it was just awful. and i had left her there in the car. and then, of course, we all saw her sit up in the stretcher and know that there was some hope. >> reporter: david manpearl jumped into action, trying to save heche and the woman in the house, who lost all her belongings in the fire. >> she was barefoot and had nothing, no personal items

whatsoever. >> reporter: heche is reportedly in critical condition, hospitalized on a ventilator with burns that require surgical intervention. she's still in a coma, having not regained consciousness. meanwhile, police are investigating the hollywood star for a possible dui. and they're looking at this footage obtained by tmz as part of their investigation. what appears to be a blue mini cooper seen nearly hitting a pedestrian and driving away. then bumping into a garage and zooming down the street. a cell phone video capturing this car driving at high speeds near the site of the crash. police are also examining this ring camera video which appears to show heche's vehicle speeding by a neighborhood seconds before the crash. investigators obtaining a warrant and drawing blood from heche as they look into whether drugs or alcohol played a role in the crash. >> i am being very pragmatic about this whole thing. >> reporter: anne heche rose to prominence on the nbc soap "at

world" where she won a daytime emmy. >> i'll pretend you're dead. >> reporter: and landed starring roles in films like "donnie brasco." >> what's the deal here? >> reporter: and "6 days, 7 nights." in the late '90s, heche became tabloid fodder for her high-profile three-year relationship with ellen degeneres and an equally high-profile breakup and public breakdown. her famous ex telling "the daily mail" yesterday, i don't want anyone to be hurt. throughout the years, heche has publicly and privately battled her share of scandals and struggles. in 2001, during an exclusive interview with abc's barbara walters, anne opened up in piercing detail about the trials and turmoils of her youth. >> i think everything i've done and all my insanity was trying to get my parents to love me. my father loved movie stars. i decided i needed to become famous to get his love. my mother loved jesus. that was her thing. so i wanted to become jesus christ.

i wanted to save the world to get her love. i went to the utmost of extremes. >> reporter: alleging at that time sexual abuse at the hands of her father as a child. >> i believe i was satisfaction basically abused by my father from the time i was a very young girl. actually, before i could speak. >> reporter: anne revealing her own mental health and substance abuse struggles through her early life via her 2001 memoir "call me crazy." >> i do a lot of things in my life to get away from what happened to me. i drank, i smoked, i did drugs, i had sex with people, i did anything i could to get the shame out of my life. >> reporter: and telling walters about her troubling personality swings. >> you, anne heche, think you are jesus, and you take the name celestia. did you really think you were jesus? >> absolutely. that's the thing about going crazy. you are absolutely aware, at least i was, that i was anne

heche an actress, i had friends, there were people who would think i was crazy if i was ever going to talk about this. and at the same time, i'm hearing god talk to me saying, you are, basically, from heaven. >> reporter: despite pain and heartache, heche's comeback has been strong. the actor has had recurring roles in the series "chicago pd" and "all rise." and was a 2020 contestant on "dancing with the stars." she's also set to star in an hbo series with pop stars troy savan and the weeknd. recently heche has been hosting a podcast, "better together," with best friend heather duffy, getting candid about their own stories of tragedy and triumph. heche said she was drinking while recording her last episode three days before the crash. >> they sent us vodka and we are drinking it. although if you look to the

side, you might see -- >> with lime and chasers. today has been a very weak day, i don't know what happened. sometimes days just suck. i don't know if you ever have them, some days, mama says, i just going to be like this. >> reporter: today heche's oldest son, 21-year-old homer, visiting his mother in the hospital. investigators continue to piece together what happened and assess the catastrophic damage caused by the crash. those who followed anne heche for decades are hoping she pulls through. up next, always faithful. the enduring bond between two men forged in war-ravaged afghanistan. here. doctor tc: ruby's a1c is down with rybelsus®. man tc: my a1c wasn't at goal, now i'm down with rybelsus®. son tc: mom's a1c is down with rybelsus®. song: a1c down with rybelsus® anncr vo: in a clinical study, once-daily rybelsus® significantly lowered a1c better than the leading branded pill.

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♪ the emotional connection between marine major thomas schuman and his former afghan interpreter is unquestionably powerful. schuman helped him, step by step, as he was fleeing chaos nearly a year ago. now they are fighting another battle as they remain always faithful. here's abc's george stephanopoulos. >> reporter: theirs is a brotherhood born out of service and sacrifice. for marine corps major thomas schuman and his former interpreter, their months'-long stint in afghanistan more than a decade ago forged a bond deeper than blood. >> did you ever think you'd see zac again? i hoped i would. most interpreters it was transactional. it became immediately evident

zac was different. he was committed. >> my trust, my team, they trust me. and we didn't think we are, like, different people. we think, like, same. same marines. >> reporter: over the years that bond remained unbroken. even as disaster struck zac's home country. >> the taliban in control of kabul, sweeping and shift -- >> thousands of afghans nowg im chaos -- killed t >> reporter: halfway across the world at his home in rhode island -- >> i don't anticipate the situation getting better in the morning. i anticipate it getting worse. >> reporter: where "nightline" first met major schuman. >> i have two points of contact at the abbey gate. >> reporter: he was working nearishly to help zac, his wife, and four young children flee

the taliban has come to kabul. >> reporter: as taliban forces ravaged kabul, the seat of government collapsing around them, the airport, the only way to escape. some so desperate they clung to the sides of plan planes leavin country. >> i can't go to airport, i am far away from airport now. >> reporter: major schuman on call after call after call, trying to find any way to get zac to safety. >> those are near where zac is staying near the airport. how much time is left? i think the time has expired, there is no time left. >> reporter: those harrowing moments at the heart of "always faithful," a new book written by major schuman and zac. >> the marines are people who never quit. simply because they promised to always be people. that was the day i understood tom schuman and how much he cared for people.

>> the impetus of the book is to tell a story about friendship, to tell a little bit about family. to have an afghan tell the story about the war. that kind of opportunity, to have someone educate and inform the country, i think is important. our job was to go out there, locate, close with, and destroy the enemy by fire maneuver. >> you couldn't do it without someone like zac? >> no. i'm unable to interact with the populace, really at all, without him by my side. >> reporter: they met in 2010 as part of the u.s. operation to rebuild afghanistan. schuman, a young rifle platoon commander from the south side of chicago. his then 19-year-old translator, zac, had bold dreams of transforming the country he loved so much. you wrote in the book, your life, you never knew a day untouched by war? >> yeah, yeah, exactly. when i was a child, there was the taliban ruling. the school, everything was

different. we hoped we could build our country and help out americans. that's why we sacrificed for it. that's why i learned english. that's why i went to school. >> were you worried at all it would make you a target of the taliban? >> yeah, but i was -- i didn't worry about my life. i worried about our future. future of our country. >> reporter: after four years of service with the u.s. armed forces, zak spent the next few years receiving countless threatening texts, phone calls, and letters from the taliban. >> they said, we're going to cut off your head, take your body, throw you to the river. your day is coming, and you're not going to be alive. >> he reached out and said, sir, the situation here is too unsafe for me. i need your support. so i said, of course, what can i do? and we started the special immigration visa program in 2016.

we felt like we had a very strong package in that clearly zak met the criteria for that program. >>. >> reporter: over the next five years, zak and major schuman would submit dozens of applications, each one denied. >> when it came to 2021, the president made the announcement that we would be out of afghanistan by the end of august. i said, zak, what does that mean to you? he says, it means me and my family will be killed. >> reporter: schuman launched a social media campaign, imploring his followers to help him bring zak to america. >> he's done more for our country than 99% of our population, and he needs our help. >> reporter: the dire situation in afghanistan a year ago only heightened their sense of urgency. >> and zak said, the taliban are here in kabul, and i got to get out. we thought we had another two weeks, we do not, got to get you out tonight. if you're able to find a refined position, please let me know.

>> reporter: schuman spent days making calls, using all the favors he had. in an attempt to get zak and his family to the airport and on a plane out of kabul. >> we tried three or four times to go to the airport. everywhere, taliban on the roads. they killed some of the interpreters. searching their houses. looking for the people who has done work with americans. >> we've seen those images of you and your family waiting desperately outside the airport. what was that like? >> that was very, very scary moment in my life. the collapsing of our government. our country. to the enemy. >> reporter: after a few failed attempts, seemingly, a miracle. major schuman tracked down an american soldier at the airport willing to find zak's family and bring them past the checkpoints. schuman messages zak to look up

at the tower and put his 5-year-old son on his shoulders as a signal. >> they saw him, called me, zak, zak! that was the -- the very heaviest moment. >> when did you finally know he was going to be okay? >> i felt like an eternity. and they came back and said, we got him. relief is just not even a word that justifies that feeling. gratitude. gratitude. >> reporter: zak first landed in qatar, then in virginia where he spent a few weeks in a refugee camp. his family finally resettled in minneapolis. it's there that he and schuman finally reunite. it's texas where the family decides to settle down long-term. zak has a cousin in san antonio. how's life in texas? >> it's good. very good place. a lot of good people. we have our community of gan

brothers, community, and they all help each other. >> reporter: their journey is far from over. zak is still waiting for official documentation that he and his family can permanently reside here in the u.s. >> he signed a contract. the contract said that he would get a visa. he did his part. >> and we didn't do ours? >> do you have your visa? >> no. i still don't have visa. >> reporter: zak's most recent visa application was denied in march. he and major schuman are appealing that denial. what reasons did they give? >> we don't have a response from them. still don't know what's going to happen. >> the idea that zak is getting assimilated in texas, he's trying to set down his roots and embrace the american dream, and he's got deportation looming over him. because this was our final appeal. and if this appeal doesn't go through, then the next step in

the process is for him to be deported. >> and what happens if you go back to afghanistan? >> killed. >> reporter: a spokesperson for the state department tells abc news that more resources have been added to the siv program but did not give any specific answers on zak's case. so the fight's not over? >> no. there's no plan "b" for this. it is zak, visa approved, becomes an american citizen. >> reporter: semper fidelis, always faithful. >> our thanks to george. up next, the hug. the moment on a little league baseball field that has everybody talking. do you struggle with occasional nerve aches in your hands or feet? try nervivenerve relief from the world's #1 selling nerve care company. nervive contains alpha lipoic acid to relieve occasional nerve aches, weakness and discomfort. try nervivenerve relief. [sfx: stomach gurgling]

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♪ finally tonight, that heartwarming moment on a little league baseball field. here's abc's will reeve. >> reporter: an act of sportsmanship and compassion on the field at the little league world series regional playoffs. isaiah jarvis in the batter's box when he's hit by a pitch in the head, falling to the ground in pain, coaches rushing to check on him. >> it's awful good to see this young man come to his feet. >> reporter: jarvis getting up and heading to first base. the pitcher, kadin sheldon, still shaken. >> i thought he was really hurt. but, like, when he started walking up to me, i mean -- it looked like he was better, but -- i thought he was going to throw a punch or something like that.

but yeah, he hugged me. and it made me feel a lot better. about myself at that moment. >> this is really cool. this is such great sportsmanship. he wants him to know that it's oay, that he'll be fine. >> he hugged me, and he told me, just throw strikes and take deep breaths. >> i wanted to go up there, because we were pretty good friends, i wanted to give him a hug. we're all brothers. baseball, it's just a game. >> and that's "nightline." you can watch all our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you