LAKE WACCAMAW (WSFX) – A woman who survived a fiery crash said there are no words that can express her gratitude for the heroes who saved her life.
Alice Patrick crashed her car along Chauncey Town Road in Lake Waccamaw on Feb. 10.
Mamie Bowen was on her way to the store when she saw Patrick’s car in a ditch.
She pulled over and got out to help the two men who were already working to pull Patrick from the car, which started to fill with smoke.
“The smoke was so dark, I begin to cough because it was taking my breath too but there was a life in there that needed saving,” said Bowen. “I got in there and her head was dropped and she was just moaning, so I knew we had to get her out. When I was inside the car, you could look at the dashboard and see the flames. The front of the car was already burning so we just knew we had to hurry and get her out because the whole car was about to be in flames and blow up.”
Patrick was pinned in the car.
Her rescuers managed to get her out of the vehicle just in time.
Bowen said as soon as the three carried her across the street, the flames engulfed the car.
“No sooner did we take her across the road that it was in flames,” Bowen said.
As they waited for first responders, Cordovian McMillian, who was passing by, stopped to pray over Patrick.
“As I seen the car in flames, I saw people on the opposite side of the road that someone on the car on the ground at that point I felt like a heaviness in my heart that I need to stop and pray for this lady,” he said.
The prayer and the rescue, Bowen later realized, were all caught on her cellphone camera.
She shared the video and wrote about the experience on social media.
Watching the video, she knows Patrick would not have survived without their help.
Bowen believes it was divine intervention that brought them here.
“God put us in the right place,” she said.
Patrick, who is still recovering from her injuries, shares that belief.
“There are no words that express how much love I have for them; there will never be a way I can do or say enough to let them know how I feel,” she wrote about her rescuers. “When I recover, I want to go see them and talk about that awful day. I cry every time I watch the video. The Lord was there by me all the way; so now once I can get healed I need to find out what he saved me for that day. I know he has a plan in store for me to do. Keep me in mind because I will be busy finding his plan.”
Patrick and Bowen have been in touch through Facebook.
Bowen hopes to visit Patrick once the coronavirus outbreak ends and it is safe for her to do so.
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