The quick work of three Good Samaritans helped save the life of a woman after her car veered into a South Surrey ditch and burst into flames Wednesday evening.
Mark Heath, 62, said he was driving eastbound on 24 Avenue near 142 Street around 6 p.m. when he saw a white Volkswagen on fire and two men, Mike Stoneburgh and Chris Griffith, struggling to pull the driver out.
The South Surrey man – who noted that at 275 pounds, he believed he could provide the extra pull to get the driver out – rushed into the ditch to help.
“I was up to my waist in mud,” Heath recalled. “I jumped in and went over and got my arms around her shoulders and we were able to release her foot from whatever it was stuck on and get her out.”
Once the three men were able to get her to the street, Heath retrieved a blanket from his truck to keep her warm.
“Her eyes were open and she was blinking, but she wasn’t able to talk,” Heath said, noting that he believed she may have suffered a medical emergency.
While waiting for emergency crews, Heath grabbed two fire extinguishers from a passing van and worked to douse the blazing car.
“You just do it,” he said. “You’re thinking, maybe this thing is going to explode, so we better get the hell out of here, so that’s what we did, get her out as quick as we could.”
Surrey RCMP confirmed Friday that the woman was taken to hospital following the accident and was experiencing back pain. She did not wish to make her name public but told police she would like to eventually meet – and thank – her rescuers.