Morgan Jade Lake survived after her car was hit by a tractor-trailer and sent toppling over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge last week.
The tractor trailer hit her car twice – the first time her car smashed into the barrier, and the second time her car was propelled over the concrete wall on the bridge's edge. The car balanced on the wall before tipping over and falling at least 40 feet into the water below, according to The Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
The 22-year-old woman told ABC News, “I saw my car explode with glass everywhere and airbags coming at me full force.”
Lake said when her car smashed into the water, “I started to drown. I felt like my whole body was getting filled up with water.” Then, with a sudden urge for survival, she “stopped shaking and said, ‘I don’t want to drown.’”.
Lake preceded to unbuckle her seat belt and swim out through the smashed window. After she reached the water’s surface and swam to shore, boaters saw the gasping and bleeding woman clinging to the rocks and called for help. She was then flown to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.
“I’m just blessed to be here,” Lake commented. “Blessed to get a second chance at life.”
Watch the video footage of her traumatizing rescue, below.
Photo: twitpic