EXCLUSIVE: Main Line Neighbor Risks Life To Save Woman Trapped In Overturned SUV
By Walt Hunter
TREDYFFRIN Twp., Pa., (CBS) -- Trapped upside down in her overturned SUV, on a dark, icy road in Chester County, Robin Murphy says a neighbor, she calls "an angel," came to her rescue possibly saving her life.
Murphy, a mother of two, was close to her home when she hit a stretch of "black ice" on a twisted, hilly stretch of Contention Lane, in Tredyffrin Township, the night of January 10th.
Hanging upside down, stuck in her seat belt, Murphy told CBS 3's Walt Hunter, in an exclusive interview, she feared at any moment her SUV might burst into flames or be pushed into a ravine along the road by another vehicle skidding in the darkness.
Unable to reach her phone, she says she did the only thing she could, beeping her horn, repeatedly.
Inside his home, several hundred yards away, Erik Miller heard the sounds. Guided only by the beeping, unable to see Murphy's car in the darkness, Miller ran through the woods, in his words, "praying to God whoever was inside the car was still alive."
Miller says when he got to the SUV he heard Murphy calling, "help me, help me." He then made his way inside, putting himself in danger, but not leaving until he removed Murphy.
Tredyffrin Police Officer Rhonda Carroll, first on the scene, credited Miller for his courageous rescue telling Hunter, "what he did was great."
"I could just tell, as soon as I saw his face, there was something special about him," Murphy told Hunter. "He really was an angel."
On March 17, Murphy and Miller will be reunited, along with their families, as they gather at the Tredyffrin Township Supervisors Meeting, where Miller will receive a commendation for his actions.
"I never thought I'd be in a position to save a life like a police officer or a first responder," Miller concluded. "It's a gratifying experience."