26-year-old Rochelle Velkers is “lucky to be alive” after a runaway truck rolled down a hill and landed on her car, crushing it.
Rochelle was driving her Opel Adam car in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, on the afternoon of Tuesday when the truck landed on her car.
The river of the truck was picking up his kid from a school when the truck rolled down the hill.
When the driver came back to his truck, he noticed it was no longer there.
Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg, said, “He then noticed that the truck had rolled forward and collided with an Opel Adam that was traveling in Diaz Road towards CJ Langenhoven Drive.”
Velkers was stuck inside her car for nearly 40 minutes before she got rescued.
She was rushed to a hospital with several injuries, which includes bone fractures.
The driver of the truck was not identified and he is currently being investigated for reckless and negligent driving.
2 men who rushed to the scene and helped the victim visited her at the hospital a day after the accident.
Shawn Herbst, a spokesperson for Netcare 911, talked about the incident and said, “The truck was squashing both her and her car. Parts of it had to be cut off in order to free her.”
Velkers, the victim of the accident, started to cry when she saw 71-year-old Charlie Gillett, the governing body chairman of the Parsons Hill Primary School and the Principal of Clinton Saddler.
Gillett reportedly had held her hand as she was lying under the truck.
Explaining what happened, Gillett said, “I was in the school at the time and the workers were rushing to the accident.”
He added, “I rushed with them and saw the car under the truck. Initially, I thought it could have been an accident involving some of our kids. When I got there, I jumped down from the wall and climbed underneath the truck. At that stage, we all thought there could also be a child inside the vehicle.”
Gillett continued, “I saw a hand and leg sticking out and started chatting with the driver of the car. She was very disoriented and I just kept telling her I am not leaving and we are going to get her out. I knew I had to keep her awake, every time I felt her dozing off I would squeeze her hand and carry on talking to her.”
Gillett held the hand of Velkers for nearly 45 minutes before rescuers freed her and rushed her to a local hospital.
Gillett said he could only see the hand of Velkers.
The people who rushed at the scene checked if diesel fuel had spilled from the truck.
What amazed everyone is that Velkers only sustained minor injuries from the accident.
Rescuers were worried that the truck would drop on the car further, but luckily it did not.
According to locals who saw the accident, the truck was not loaded.