Long Island Expressway rescue: Video shows moment good Samaritans pull woman from burning vehicle
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A woman is lucky to be alive after a group of good Samaritans pulled her out of her burning vehicle on the Long Island Expressway on Monday.
Shocking video of the incident shared on social media earlier this week shows the moment the group pulled the crash victim out of his car.
The woman, identified as 56-year-old Susan Denise, was driving her 2022 Jeep Liberty on the highway when the vehicle struck a center median and flipped on its side, eventually catching fire.
The group was applauded on social media for their quick actions and administration of first aid until first responders arrived.
‘THANK GOD FOR THE GOOD SAMARITANS / BYSTANDERS HELPING OTHERS IN NEED,’ the person who captured the video wrote.
This was the car the woman was taken from on Monday afternoon in New York
Video of the incident was first shared Monday night by Todd Miranda, who was out on the road and captured the harrowing moment.
‘That’s how my day started driving west on the LIE [Long Island Expressway] before the exit 61 ‘, Miranda wrote.
According to the Suffolk County Police Department, the incident occurred west of Exit 62 on the Long Island Expressway just after 12:00 p.m.
Three of the four lanes of the highway were closed for several hours after the accident.
After the vehicle caught fire, bystanders sprang into action, stopping their own cars in the middle of the busy highway to help.
The woman was on fire inside the car, authorities said.
The incident occurred shortly after 12:00 p.m. on the Long Island Expressway.
A group of good Samaritans jumped into action to help the woman while her car was on fire.
The men helped the woman, putting out the fire on her clothing and blocking traffic.
The accident closed three of the four lanes of the highway for several hours on Monday.
The first three seconds of the video show the woman’s clothing on fire as she lay on the ground after being removed from the vehicle.
Denise was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital and was listed in critical condition Tuesday.
DailyMail.com contacted the Suffolk County Police Department for an update on Denise’s condition and the accident investigation, but did not hear back at the time of publication.
It is still unknown what caused the woman and the vehicle to hit the median and crash in the first place.
The woman was airlifted to a nearby hospital where she remains in critical condition.
The fire crash was documented by a man who was on the road
The woman’s car caught fire after hitting the median and flipping over
The 45-second video shows the woman’s Jeep in the carpool lane, facing oncoming traffic with flames shooting out of the sides and front.
A man appears to throw water on the flames on the ground and the car as the woman spins on the ground away from the vehicle.
At one point, another man pulls his car forward and opens his trunk to pull out an extra jug of water to give to the group helping the woman.
The group leads the woman several lanes away from the fire, which appears to be completely engulfed in flames, and one of the rescuers heroically stands in the middle of several lanes of highway to stop traffic.
This was the post attached to the rescue video
The video, posted less than 48 hours ago, racked up nearly 45,000 views on Facebook after the witness posted it.
“These 5 BRAVE BYSTANDERS risked their lives to pull this woman out of a BURNING FIREBALL of a CAR, to SAVE HER LIFE,” Miranda wrote in the caption.
The Facebook user said the incident led him to be more prepared in the future if something like this were to happen again.
“I felt pretty helpless, wishing I had a FIRE EXTINGUISHER in my car, so I could do something to help. I went to the store to buy 2 right away, so this will NEVER happen again,” the sign read.
Dozens have commented on Miranda’s post, stating that they also saw the crash and thanking her for documenting the incident.
The group of men was applauded on social media.
Good Samaritans were thanked for their quick action that saved the woman’s life.
“God bless that group for eternity in return,” said one Facebook commenter.
‘So scary. Thank God and bless those brave men for being so brave and saving 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 is amazing that those men stood up and helped her,” said another.