Woman Dials 911 Using Toes After Hands Were Crushed While Changing a Tire
A North Carolina woman managed to call 911 with her toes after her vehicle fell on top of her hands while she was changing a tire on a dark highway Sunday night.
According to a statement from Colleton County Fire-Rescue, the unidentified woman, 54, pulled over on a stretch of highway around 6:00 p.m. after noticing her car had a flat tire.
The woman, from Charlotte, North Carolina, managed to remove the flat tire and was in the process of replacing it with the spare tire when the car jack slipped.
While the 54-year-old woman was changing a tire on the side of the highway, the car fell and trapped both her hands.
Over the next 35 minutes she was able to slip off her shoe and, after many attempts, dial 911 with her toes. https://t.co/Xzcgq6MnT9
— CNN International (@cnni) February 4, 2020
The car fell right on top of the woman’s hands and fingers, crushing them between the tire and the fender.
“She was trapped alone on the side of the dark Interstate, experiencing excruciating pain,” CCFR stated.
According to Colleton County Fire-Rescue, a 54-year-old woman from Charlotte, N.C. was changing a tire on Sunday evening along a dark section of I-95 North near mile marker 68. https://t.co/1CqOwzzGkU
— NBC 10 WJAR (@NBC10) February 4, 2020
With nobody around to help her, it was up to the woman to save herself.
Her only hope was her cell phone, which she could use to call 911 to save her from the desperate situation. With her hands firmly trapped, the woman decided to use her feet instead.
“Over the next 35 minutes, she was able to slip off one shoe and manipulate her cell. After many attempts she was able to dial 9-1-1 with her toes and advise them of her predicament,” CCFR stated.
When help arrived, first responders had the difficult challenge of figuring out how to free the woman’s hands quickly, and without causing additional injury.
“They used a prybar without success and then deflated the tire to remove the air, however the car just dropped as the tire deflated,” CCFR explained. “Using the prybar, they were able to free one hand.”
The crew soon sent for a Holmatro Hydraulic Spreader “to lift the car,” and moments later, a fire engine arrived with the equipment that successfully freed the woman’s other hand.
Colleton County Fire-Rescue said the woman suffered “severe damage to both hands and all fingers.” She was administered pain medication at the scene before being rushed to a nearby trauma center. It is unclear how the woman is doing at this time.
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