A man and woman were pulled from their burning vehicles by Good Samaritans after a high-speed collision caused their vehicles to burst into flames on the Campbell Road exit.
On Monday afternoon around 4 p.m. Mikaela Helfrich said she was driving home from work and on her way to pick up her kids in St. Albert when she suddenly found herself in a fiery wreck.
Helfrich was travelling from Edmonton and was exiting Anthony Henday Drive at the Campbell Park exit. The single mother of three was stopped at the light in her Toyota Highlander and was rear-ended by a Honda Pilot coming off the Henday travelling at an estimated 80 kilometres per hour.
“I remember hearing the crash and it sounded like there was a vehicle inside my vehicle,” Helfrich said.
The airbags in the SUV went off and Helfrich was knocked unconscious. When she came to she looked in her passenger mirror and saw flames pouring out of the engine of the vehicle that had just hit hers. The back of her vehicle was catching on fire.
“I could smell the smoke and smell all the liquids running out of my vehicle,” Helfrich said.
Slightly disoriented and sore from the impact, Helfrich tried to open her door but it was jammed shut and her arms were weak from the wreck.
“I sat there for a minute and literally thought ‘this is it,’” Helfrich said.
Suddenly a man appeared next to Helfrich’s vehicle and managed to get the door open and help her out of the SUV. The man named Matt who helped her was stopped in front of Helfrich during the collision and his vehicle was also impacted by the force.
Matt asked Helfrich if she was okay and helped her out of the vehicle. Helfrich said at the time she didn’t know if she was okay and was wiggling her fingers and toes to make sure she was not paralyzed from the impact.
A man named David, who did not want his last name used, witnessed the incident and said that the Honda Pilot was travelling on the Henday and seemed to be driving erratically. David said that the vehicle hit the ditch and then headed up the Campbell Park exit while picking up speed. The driver did not hit the brakes before slamming into the back of Helfrich’s vehicle.
Helfrich was pulled from her vehicle first by Matt and helped to safety by a couple nearby. David and another unnamed Good Samaritan ran to the Honda Pilot to try to pull the driver from his vehicle, which was becoming quickly engulfed in flames.
The duo was able to pull the rear passenger door open and the unnamed rescuer crawled into the back seat of the burning vehicle, undid the unconscious drivers seat belt and pulled him out of the vehicle with David’s help.
“The plastic on his dashboard was just starting to smoke and once we dragged him out I looked back in and his headrests on his driver's seat and passenger seat were on fire. He was within 10 seconds of being burnt alive,” David said.
David said that the man did not suffer any burns but likely inhaled a lot of smoke. After the driver was pulled from the vehicle he was walking around the scene but seemed to be in shock. David said that the vehicles were fully engulfed in flames within 30 to 45 seconds after the first impact.
David said that since the incident people have been calling him “the h-word”, a hero, and he said that he was just doing what anybody else would do.
“I don’t feel like I did anything special. I did what I had to do at the time,” David said.
Once everybody was brought to safety Helfrich said that she learned the driver of the Honda Pilot was suffering from a low blood sugar and had lost consciousness while driving.
Helfrich suffered some bruising and cuts but has no major injuries from the incident.
“It just reaffirms my faith in humanity, having something like this happen. You don’t realize the person you pull up behind at a light could save your life. It just reminds you that we are all here for each other and when these things happen and somebody will make sure that you go home to your kids at night,” Helfrich said.
