A Long Island woman is alive today, thanks to two Good Samaritans who happened to be at the right place at the right time to pull her out of a burning car.
Alyssa Fox, 20, was fiddling with her GPS when she lost control of the car, hit a tree and flipped the vehicle on its side on Route 347 early Saturday in Smithtown.
As flames began to engulf the car, Fox was convinced she would die.
“I didn’t think I was going to make it out alive,” Fox told The Post this morning from her bed at Stonybrook Hospital.
Moments later, Commack volunteer firefighter Matthew Monahan and former EMT Joseph Moscato pulled up from different directions, having just gotten off work shifts.
Fox’s car was flipped on the passenger side and she undid her seat belt, dropping her into the passenger seat, dad Scott Fox said.
As the fire began to spread in the car, Moscato kept flames at bay with an extinguisher while Monahan instructed Fox to stand up and reach up and out of driver’s side.
“There was a moment when I said to him I’m going to die tonight,” Alyssa Fox told WABC. “I’m not going to make it out. I’m going to die in here. He said, `I’m not leaving you behind. I’m getting you out of here.’ ”
The Seaford hairdresser broke her ankle and clavicle and suffered several other injuries. She could barely move while trapped in her car.
“She definitely needed help, she had too many broken bones,” her relieved dad said.
When Alyssa Fox worked up the strength to reach up and grab Monahan’s hand, Moscato dropped the fire extinguisher and both men pulled the injured driver out, according to Scott Fox.
Within 30 seconds, Fox’s 2006 Dodge Stratus was completely engulfed in flames.
“It’s a miracle, it’s an amazing story,” said Scott Fox, who owns a home alarm company.
“These guys are heroes, they are part of my family without a doubt. I don’t know how I could ever repay these guys. Without them, it’d be a totally different story.”
The incredibly grateful dad also marveled at his family’s good fortune — not just that two Good Samaritans stopped, but that both are trained for emergency rescues.
“Everything just came together perfectly,” Fox said.