WOMAN RESCUED
FROM CAR, SECONDS BEFORE IT EXPLODES
A woman was pulled from a burning car wreck by a Good Samaritan and a Florida Sheriff just seconds before the vehicle exploded in a fiery blaze.
The harrowing rescue began on Monday morning after 21-yearold Rosie Ramirez crashed into a tree near a roundabout in Martin County.
At that moment, passing motorist Tony Weisman was driving home and pulled up to the crash site.
Weisman, 29, told WPTV: ‘It was like the whole front of the car was on fire. It was going up the tree and it was a pretty big fire.’
He quickly parked his car and saw a woman already on the scene calling 911. She said there was a person trapped in the car.
‘She said somebody was in the car. That’s when the officer pulled up,’ he said.
At that very moment, Sgt. Timothy Baltes with the Martin County Sheriff’s Department arrived as the first law enforcement on the scene.
The two men shared a brief moment before rushing to save Ramirez from the increasingly burning vehicle.
Baltes said: ‘I saw [Weisman], I looked at him and I said let’s go get her. Without hesitation, he joined. We ran up to the car.’
Due to damage sustained by her car, Ramirez was trapped inside.
‘I don’t think she was able to open the door. We had to pry the door open,’ said Weisman.
‘We opened the door and she actually fell out. Then I grabbed her by the arms. The officer grabbed her by the legs,’ he added.
After lifting Ramirez from the ground, Weisman and Baltes carried her about 20 yards away before the car exploded.
It was probably about 20 or 30 seconds before it exploded upfront and started catching in the cabin,’ Baltes said.
Ramirez was in pain as Weisman and Baltes comforted her until emergency crews arrived to the
scene, CBS 12 reports.
‘Two is always better than one. It was good to have that guy with me. I was happy he was able to jump in the mix right away without hesitation. Not a lot of people would do that,’ Baltes explained.
Ramirez was escorted to a local hospital, where she is recovering from a broken pelvis, femur and talus. She’s undergone three surgeries thus far and a fourth operation is scheduled for Saturday that will work on repairing her foot.
Her foot injury is so severe that doctors hope she will be able to keep her foot and learn to walk in around six months.
Ramirez graduated from Jensen Beach High School and is a Certified Nursing Assistant working to become a Registered Nurse.
Family and friends are praising the two men for their courageous actions.
Weisman said: ‘If there’s no one else there to help, you always help somebody when they need help.’
Baltes shared a similar sentiment, saying: ‘I took an oath to serve and protect. This is the job and this is what I get paid to do. It’s just something we do and I know every officer in this agency would act the same way.’
A Gofundme was created to help cover medical and living expenses.