By James Nye
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A wheelchair bound basketball fan says he owes his life to the quick thinking actions of his team's star player who plucked him from the ground and protected him from a wildly celebrating crowd.
Storming towards the players in wild celebration as the buzzer sounded for Saturday's stunning 84-76 win for North Carolina State over No.1 Duke in Raleigh, die-hard fan Will Privette suddenly found himself trapped in the middle of a crowd of hundreds.
Coming to his rescue, six-foot-nine C.J. Leslie spotted the stricken fan, scooped him up from the floor and made sure he didn't get crushed to death: 'He held me for a couple of minutes. I was screaming and yelling,' said the fortunate basketball fan.
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Hero: C.J. Leslie holds onto Will Privette in the victorious aftermath of N.C. State's victory over No.1. Duke on Saturday - The wheelchair bound fan was plucked from the court's floor by Leslie to save him from the stamping crowd
Leslie, 21, pushed his way through the mass of jumping bodies, saying, 'Get back, get back,' before he reached Privette, 21, who is study communications at North Carolina State.
The star forward told The News & Observer that he held the hapless fan 'like how you would hold a baby' until he knew that he was safe. At which point Privette started to pat Leslie on his head to congratulate him on the victory, screaming 'Woooo! Let's go!'
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'I just saw him there and people were surging in around him,' said Leslie, who scored 25 points in the game. 'I knew it could end up a bad situation.'
After he was sat down court-side, Privette waited to speak to Leslie, telling him, 'Thank you, thank you for helping - saving my life, really.'
As the buzzer sounded for Saturday's stunning 84-76 win over No. 1 Duke - N.C. State student body president Andy Walsh pushed Privette into the celebration (centre)
Concerned commentator's at ESPN were relieved to see Leslie holding onto Privette after seeing him disappear into the crowd at the end of Saturday's game
Indeed, watching ESPN commentator Dick Vitale expressed concern as he spotted the unmistakable sight of a wheelchair being pushed straight into the middle of the chaos.
However, the positive outcome has been praised by sports pundits too - hailed as a moment the star of the basketball team provided a fan with a memory that will last him a lifetime.
Privette himself managed to record first-person video of the first panicked seconds as he was wheeled onto the court by N.C. State student body president Andy Walsh - a decision he described as 'the dumbest thing' he's done in college.
Once the game was over the video of the over-exuberant partying spread online and 'wheelchair' began to trend on Twitter.
North Carolina State fans rush the court following the Wolfpack's 84-76 win over top-ranked Duke in Raleigh, N.C. on Saturday
Will Privette has been in a wheelchair his entire life and is known around campus as the basketball team's biggest fan
Thousands of people started to send him messages through social networking asking if he was OK.
Now known as the 'wheelchair kid who rushed the court', Privette is from Zebulon, North Carolina, which is 20-miles from Raleigh and North Carolina State.
He was born with leg deformities and has been confined to a wheelchair all his life and the massive basketball fan has only missed one home N.C. State game in three and a half years at college.
'Andy and I waited the last 50 seconds of the game on the court in the corner. As the buzzer (went) or probably before, we rushed the court,' said Privette to USA Today.
This first-person video from Will Privette shows the second that the buzzer sounded and he was rushed onto the court during the North Carolina game on Saturday - his camera was knocked from his hand and blacked out shortly after
'We went straight to the middle, which probably was better because if we'd have gone to the side we would have gotten hit worse.
'It was like a wave. It toppled me over. I fell out of my wheelchair. I was on the ground, and I had my phone in my hand -- I was trying to film the event -- and the phone flew out of my hands and my glasses flew off my face. I was on the ground. I was like, 'OK, what am I going to do now?'
'I'm loving it. I'm glad this happened my senior year. It's a great way to go out.'
Watch Video: The moment basketball fan rushes the court in Raleigh, North Carolina
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