A Robinson Township native recovering from a violent car crash in Florida still can’t quite believe she made it out of her burning car, captured in a dramatic video.
"It's hard to place that was me right there,” says Rhonda Nagy.
The mother of six said it was around 6:30 a.m. Friday and very dark while she was driving to work near Orlando.
“I started to slow down because I saw brake lights in front of me, and as I was slowing down, someone just rammed me in the back,” she said.
Within seconds, her was on fire.
“Got the seatbelt off, just trying to get out, and that's when I was climbing up on my seat and none of the car doors would open,” she said.
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However, firefighter Lt. Jason McNally of Orange County Fire Rescue was nearby and saw the crash.
"I saw one vehicle scrape a concrete barrier and then burst into flames," he said in an interview with WPXI sister station WFTV.
McNally leaped into action. But when he put one foot over the road barrier, trying pull Nagy out of the car, he fell 40 feet into the Saint John’s River.
"I didn't have her with me, and I was falling 30 or 40 feet," he said. "And the next thing I thought was, 'Oh no. I'm gonna hit the concrete.'"
Fortunately, he hit the water, with his new gear providing a cushion.
After being rescued from the car, a grateful Nagy finally laid eyes on the man who saved her life. Soaking wet, they hugged.
“Tears, crying, we were just hugging, like, I can't believe it,” she said. “He didn't even think, you know, trying to risk his own life, trying to help an accident.”
Nagy said she walked away with bumps and bruises.