The passenger involved in a fiery car crash on Memorial Day in Reading, Massachusetts, is sharing her story for the first time.
Seventeen-year-old Allison McCaffrey and her aunt, Laura McCaffrey, were on their way to Wal-Mart, when Laura started to have a seizure behind the wheel.
"I kind of just, all of the sudden, heard her scream," recalled McCaffrey. "Then the car just went forward."
The teen had little time to react but knew she had to get the car to stop.
"I didn't really know what to do, so I grabbed onto the wheel," said McCaffrey. "[I] started turning the car on my own, so we didn't crash into any other cars."
McCaffrey not only grabbed the wheel, but tried to get her aunt's foot off the gas pedal as she tried to dodge other cars on the road.
"I was grabbing on to Laura's leg, trying to move it off the gas, and that's when I noticed the road was taking a curve," said McCaffrey. "And there was a pole in front of me."
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It ended with a crash into a utility pole.
McCaffrey blacked out, but she came to and jumped out of the car. She realized her aunt was unconscious and the door was jammed.
Flames were shooting from the vehicle.
"I was screaming out Laura's name," said McCaffrey. "I didn’t know what to do."
Suddenly, some people who heard the commotion showed up, including Brandon Finnen, who started to use a baseball bat to break the car windows.
He and another man then dragged Laura to safety.
McCaffrey knows they were lucky, and she has a message for the people who helped.
"I want to say thank you, because I don't know what would have happened if you guys weren't there," said McCaffrey. "Laura probably would have been dead ... there's not a lot of people like you out there these days."
McCaffrey suffered a sprained ankle. Her aunt remains hospitalized with a broken ankle and will be undergoing surgery.
