Moment Good Samaritans lift a car to free e-bike rider trapped underneath
A group of Good Samaritans in Pennsylvania rushed to free a woman trapped beneath a classic Volkswagen Beetle after her e-bike collided with the car, with the dramatic rescue captured on video.
The 44-year-old woman crashed into the Beetle Monday morning as it was turning right onto 11th Street from Lincoln Avenue in Prospect Park, ABC 6 reports. She became trapped beneath the vehicle, and her screams for help prompted nearby worker Christine Vollmer to rush to her aid.
“All I saw were the lady’s legs from underneath the car,” Vollmer told the outlet. She said she initially tried to lift the vehicle herself before calling 911 as others rushed over to help.
“Once I heard her scream, ‘Help,’ I just ran outside and tried to lift up the car by myself, and then other neighbors came out,” Amelia Cannon of Nolet Home Care Agency, who also helped, told ABC 6.
As more people arrived, Vollmer realized they needed someone stronger to help lift the car.
“When I saw my delivery driver, I was like, ‘Alright, he has muscles,'” she said.
FedEx driver Karl Wise was among those who joined the rescue effort.
“Picked up the Volkswagen Beetle on its side and drug the woman out and I told her, ‘Don’t move,'” Wise said.
Surveillance video and police body-camera footage released Thursday show about half a dozen people working together to lift the Beetle and free the woman.
The woman was taken to a nearby hospital with chest injuries, Prospect Park Chief Dave Madonna told ABC 7 Chicago. She is expected to be OK and was in stable condition Thursday.
Madonna credited the group’s quick response with helping save the woman’s life.
“No special equipment, no training, they just come over and use brute force to lift the vehicle off of the victim,” Madonna told ABC 6. The police chief also pointed to the crash as an example of what he considers the dangers of e-bikes. Pennsylvania does not require e-bike riders to have a license or wear a helmet/
“How many more tragedies do we have to see before some type of action is taken?” Madonna said, calling for additional regulations.
Madonna later returned to the scene to thank those who helped.
