A woman is lucky to be alive after being pulled from her burning vehicle on the Long Island Freeway by a group of Good Samaritans Monday.
Shocking video of the incident, shared on social media earlier this week, shows the moment the group pulled the crash victim out of their car.
The woman, identified as Susan Denise, 56, was driving her 2022 Jeep Liberty on the freeway when the vehicle struck a median reservation, rolled over and eventually caught fire.
The group was praised on social media for acting quickly and providing first aid until first responders arrived.
“THANK GOD FOR THE GOOD SAMARITANS / PASSENGERS – HELP OTHERS IN NEED,” wrote the person who took the video.
This was the car the woman had towed in New York as of Monday afternoon
Video of the incident was first shared Monday night by Todd Miranda, who was on the freeway capturing the harrowing moment.
“That’s how my day started with the LIE westbound [Long Island Expressway] before exit 61,” Miranda wrote.
According to the Suffolk County Police Department, the incident happened just after 12 a.m. just west of exit 62 of the Long Island Expressway.
Three out of four lanes of the highway were closed for several hours after the accident.
After the vehicle caught fire, bystanders stepped in and stopped their own cars in the middle of the busy highway to help.
The woman was on fire in the car, officials said.
The incident happened just after 12 p.m. on the Long Island Expressway
A group of Good Samaritans stepped in to help the woman when her car caught fire
The men helped the woman, extinguishing the fire on her clothing and blocking traffic
The accident paralyzed three of the four lanes of the freeway for several hours on Monday
The first three seconds of the video shows the woman’s clothing on fire as she lay on the ground after being pulled from the vehicle.
Denise was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital by helicopter and was in critical condition on Tuesday.
reached out to the Suffolk County Police Department for an update on Denise’s condition and the investigation into the crash, but have received no response at the time of publication.
It is still unclear why the woman and the vehicle hit the median and collapsed at all.
The woman was taken by helicopter to a nearby hospital, where she is in critical condition
The fiery crash was documented by a man traveling on the freeway
The woman’s car caught fire after hitting the median and overturning
The 45-second video shows the woman’s Jeep in the carpool lane, facing oncoming traffic, with flames erupting from the sides and front.
A man appears to be throwing water at flames on the ground and the car, while the woman on the ground spins away from the vehicle.
At one point, another man pulls his car forward and opens his trunk to reveal an extra pitcher of water to give to the group helping the woman.
The group pulls the woman several lanes away from the fire, which appears to be ablaze, and one of the rescuers heroically stands in the middle of several lanes of the freeway to stop traffic.
This was the post that accompanied the video of the rescue
The video, posted less than 48 hours ago, has amassed almost 45,000 views on Facebook after it was posted by the witness.
“These 5 BRAVE, BRAVE PASSENGERS risked their lives to pull this woman from a BURNING CAR FIREBALL to SAVE HER LIFE,” Miranda wrote in the caption of the post.
The Facebook user said the incident prompted him to be more prepared in the future if something like this ever happens again.
“I felt pretty helpless and wish I had a FIRE EXTINGUISHER in my car so I could do something to help.
Dozens have commented on Miranda’s post, saying they also saw the crash and thanking him for documenting the incident.
The group of men was applauded on social media
The Good Samaritans were thanked for their quick action that saved the woman’s life
“God bless this group in return for eternity,” said one Facebook commenter.
‘So creepy. Thank God and bless these brave men for being brave enough to save this man,” one person wrote.
“I love New York,” wrote one commenter. “The people, the heart… True heroes.”
‘Wow. That’s intense. She is so lucky to be alive and it’s incredible that these men stood up and helped her,” said another.