'You gotta stay alive': Almost hurt, Dominique Love steps in to help Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A south suburban woman said she was seconds away from being a part of a chain-reaction crash that injured Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones.
But instead of just driving away, she jumped in to help. Now she's speaking to CBS 2's Shardaa Gray.
"I seen the impact because I was almost involved."
Dominique Love saw everything unfold right in front of her, near Freeland and River Oaks Drive in Calumet City.
She was headed home when she witnessed a car crash.
"There was a car that came around me. So I stopped and out of no where, there was a big boom."
Love said she saw a man get out of a car. That man is Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones. Calumet City Police said around 8:00 p.m., in the 300 block of River Oaks Drive, there was a four vehicle crash.
Police said two vehicles collided, causing a chain reaction. Mayor Jones and a 47-year-old man were involved. Jones was taken to the hospital, but he and everyone else are expected to be ok.
"I was scared because I thought I was in it for a minute. And I was just like, ok my car is not involved. I felt the heat and everything. I literally was right in front of it. So I was just like, oh my god."
Love said as soon as she saw Mayor Jones stumble and fall, she instinctively jumped in and helped out.
"Nobody did anyting. So I got out of my car, rushed to him and said 'get up, wake up, wake up' because he was passing out. And I'm like, 'you gotta stay alive, you gotta stay alive, you gotta stay with me'. And I started praying over him, I'm not going to lie, because that's what my momma taught me."
Love is a certified nursing assistant who works in Orland Park.
"I couldn't sit there while a man is laying on the ground. I didn't know if he was unconscious or if something happened. I guess it's my good heart. I could not just let him sit there."
Love said she didn't know who Jones was until after she came to rescue him.
"He was just a man at the time. Even if he didn't have that title, I still would have helped him. I didn't know. It was just an instinct to help somebody. Just the type of person I am."