It was just before noon Monday when a Thurston County woman found herself racing toward a burning car.
The road was one Heather Zabrowski wouldn't normally travel in the middle of the day. But an errand during her lunch break put her in the right place to help make a daring rescue.
Zabrowski says she witnessed the accident on Coopers Point Road NW near 28th Avenue NW.
"I wasn't necessarily thinking about my life at that point, I was just thinking about how this car was on fire and there is somebody inside," she said.
"I saw a car coming the other way, go down into the ditch. So I turned around and called 911," she said.
A few people had already stopped because of the accident.
"I saw smoke as I ran up. I was asking if someone was in there, and they said yes. That's when I saw fire, and I jumped down and said he needs to get out," said Zabrowski.
She put herself at risk as she opened the driver's door.
"I told him we need to get you out of the car. He wasn't responding," she said.
The man behind the wheel was much heavier than the 29-year-old.
"I felt at that point I wasn't the best person for the job, but I was the one doing it, so I just needed to try," she said.
Zabrowski was able to unbuckle his seatbelt, then struggled to lift him out as flames crept up.
"I was yelling that I needed help pulling him, and finally some people kind of grabbed his arms and helped pull him up out of the ditch," she said.
Paramedics and firefighters arrived. The driver, a 67-year-old man who had had an apparent diabetic reaction, was taken to the hospital.
"I was just the first one to react, but I definitely was not the only one to act," she said.
On Thurston County Sheriff's social media pages, Zabrowski is receiving credit for her courage and being called a hero.
"I don't feel like I am necessarily a hero. I feel I just acted in a way I would want people to act if it were me or my family members or people I care about, you know," she said.
Zabrowski just completed a first aid class in May. She said that training helped her recognize that the driver was likely having a medical episode. She added that she is also aware of the bystander effect, where individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present. She says she did not want to hesitate in delivering help to the driver.
The Sheriff's office says without her quick, heroic effort, the man could have been more seriously injured.
