Ulises Matthews was making coffee in his kitchen Thursday morning when he heard tires squealing on his street in Harrisburg.
He went outside to see what was going on, and found a blue car enveloped in smoke.
The car had run in reverse into a parked car along the curb in the 2100 block of Green Street. White smoke was billowing up from the blue car’s front tires as they spun relentlessly against the pavement.
Matthews didn’t know what to think. Had someone turned on their car’s ignition with a remote, not realizing the transmission was in reverse?
One by one, the front tires blew out after spinning away layers of rubber against the asphalt, but the smoke continued to pour out from the car. It eventually filled the inside of the car and caused Matthews to choke as he approached.
Matthews originally thought there was no one inside the car. He knocked on the door of his neighbor to let him know that someone had run into his car and try to figure out who owned the blue car.
Instead, other neighbors came outside and told Matthews there was a woman in the driver’s seat. A neighbor told Matthews that it was her sister in the car and that she was planning to run some errands. As she prepared to leave, she must have had a seizure, the sister said.
Matthews wasn’t sure if the motor was going to blow up from the constant revving, but he didn’t care. He ran to the car to pull the driver out.
“I figured I’d make it,” Matthews said.
He reached in through the open driver’s side window and opened the door. Then he put the transmission in park and pulled her foot off the pedal.
His efforts startled the driver, who had been previously unresponsive. Her eyes were open, but she still appeared to be having a seizure and couldn’t get out of the car, Matthews said.
That’s when Matthews lifted her out and placed her down on the ground about five to seven feet away from the smoke-filled car.
Once she got some fresh air, she started coming around, Matthews said.
Rescuers soon arrived and took her to a hospital by ambulance. She was expected to be okay.
Neighbors said they were glad Matthews intervened.
“He’s really shy and quiet,” said Erica Reed of Matthews. “But he’s also a really good guy with a big heart so I could definitely see him doing this.”
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