MESA, AZ — It was an emotional reunion between the woman rescued from a fiery crash on US 60 last week and the Good Samaritans that ran towards her burning pickup truck to help her in any way they could.
ABC15 was there exclusively to capture the heartfelt hugs, nearly a week since one of those Good Samaritans, Codey Conrad, faced the unthinkable: rescuing a woman from burning alive as she sat trapped in her pickup truck on US 60 near Greenfield Road last Tuesday.
“You could hear the screams of her coming outside, you know, let me out, let me out, or something to that.. I can’t remember exactly what she said, but yeah, just screaming,” said Conrad.
The horrifying moments were captured on police helmet footage, with Conrad running towards the flames after a cement-mixer slammed into Aymee Ruiz’s vehicle, sparking a dangerous fire that threatened to engulf her.
In the video, you see Conrad using a fire extinguisher from his work vehicle to beat back the flames, a move first responders tell ABC15 bought them valuable seconds.
Conrad did all this after getting hit in the crash himself, fighting through the pain to save a complete stranger.
“I just… I didn’t even know what I was thinking at that point, just fire extinguisher trying to put the fire out at that point,” said Conrad.
Ruiz shared the horrifying moments she experienced while trapped with ABC15, watch in the player below:
Those heroic actions culminated in a priceless reunion with Ruiz, who was accompanied by her husband and her son, who all got a chance to say thank you.
“I.. it feels like.. I feel complete, I feel complete,” said Ruiz.
“It feels amazing, It’s really nice to be able to meet the people that helped out when this could’ve been a totally different story and outcome,” said Nathan Ferguson, Ruiz’s husband.
And it was not over: Ruiz invited two other Good Samaritans from that day to come say hello and relive some of that shared trauma, slowly healing together with each and every laugh.
“It feels good. Of course,” said Ryan Betsoi, who came with his dad, Ernest Betsoi.
The driver of that cement-mixer has since been cited for the crash. Now, everyone who survived is living with the physical and psychological toll.
But when you have come this close to death, it is the priceless moments you will live for every day.
“They’re playing around right away, once they saw each other, started playing around… see like, I can’t even imagine, I can’t even imagine not being here and seeing all this, I really can’t, thank God,” said Ruiz.
