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SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah woman is reaching out on social media to try to find two people who likely saved her life. She broke her neck in a car accident three weeks ago and wants to thank the couple who stopped to help her on the side of the road.
Late in the evening three weeks ago, Lacey Austin was in the backseat of her car. She wasn't wearing a seat belt and her friend was driving. They were heading up Spanish Fork Canyon when her friends tried to pass the car ahead.
"I felt the car swerve one way and then I felt it swerve another way,” Austin said. “Then I felt it roll and that's when I went unconscious and then I woke up on the roof of my car."
The car had rolled down an embankment next to a railroad track. Austin's friends yelled at her to move, but she remained motionless.
"I couldn't feel my hands,” she said. “My hands were completely numb."
Her friend grabbed her waist and pulled her halfway out of the car. That's when two strangers — a man and woman — told the friend to stop. But there was a train speeding towards the car and their only choice was to risk further injury and pull her out.
Once moved to safety, the man stabilized Austin's neck as the woman took her pulse.
"I remember telling them that I was tired and they kept telling me, 'You need to stay awake,’ ” Austin said.
Austin was a mere centimeter away from being paralyzed. She had suffered a broken neck and concussion. She says the pair didn't let go until paramedics arrived. But just as quickly as they appeared, they were gone.
Austin has taken to Facebook to try to track down the Good Samaritans. Her post has been shared more than 9,000 times, but no one has come forward.
KSL TV learned through witness statements that they live out of state, but are working to track them down.
"I know that I am here for a reason,” Austin said.
That reason is to raise Whitley, her daughter. Each day, Austin listens to her daughter's advice to wear a seat belt and holds hope one day she can thank the strangers who kept her alive to hear it.
"I want to tell both of these people thank you, and I want to meet them in person and hug these people,” Austin said.
If you have any information on who helped Austin, email ddolan@ksl.com.
