'I Think That It's A Miracle': Woman Speaks Out After Good Samaritans Lift SUV Off Her

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- It was a frantic and frightening scene: A 25-year-old woman who says she was run over and trapped under a large SUV on the Lower East Side.

It was an accident she says could have killed her that happened in a blink.

"A couple seconds later, I was under a car and I was just like 'Get me out, get me out,'" Veronika said. She's from Astoria, Queens, and asked us not to use her last name.

Her story of survival is extraordinary.

She told CBS2's Scott Rapoport she was crossing the street at the corner of Delancey and Norfolk on Sunday at around 5 p.m. when the dark-colored SUV made a right turn, hitting her and rolling onto her. She said her legs were pinned under the tires.

"I think I was really under shock. I didn't think I had any emotion apart from being scared, obviously," she said.

Then something incredible happened. Good Samaritans rushed to her aid, seemingly from out of nowhere, desperately trying to get the vehicle off of Veronika's prone body.

"There were more than 10 people try to raise the car up, to take the lady out from there," said witness Iluminado Pastoriza.

Eventually, nearly a dozen good Samaritans managed to finally tilt the car on its right side, pulling Veronica out.

"I think that it's a miracle. It's incredible," she said.

Veronika says she suffered a concussion from the terrible accident, along with heavy bruising to her body, but no broken bones. She was taken from the scene, treated and released from a hospital.

And now Veronika has a message to the strangers who saved her.

"My main reaction is that I am just unbelievably grateful for everyone who came straight away and helped," she said. "They are really the reason I am okay."

Police said the driver of the SUV, a 65-year-old woman, was issued a summons for failing to yield to a pedestrian.

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• Scott Rapoport
• Lower East Side
• New York