It all happened around 11:00 a.m. Tuesday morning on the Blue Route in Radnor.
A Subaru Legacy driven by 71-year-old Wayne Cherry jumped the median from the southbound side.
It passed through all northbound lanes, hit the fender of a second car, and struck a tree at the top of the embankment. The car started to smoke and Cherry was trapped.
At the same time, Cathy Shull and her husband were driving northbound with Cathy's brother Mike Aroi in the car behind them.
"All of a sudden, we're driving and we just see this car coming toward us," Cathy said.
Cathy's husband, an off-duty Springfield police officer, grabbed a crowbar and, with the help of Mike, broke the window to pull Cherry out.
"When I got to the car, I tried opening the door, but it was either locked or jammed, it definitely was not opening and I saw the man in there and all I saw was the whites of his eyes, the eyes were in the back of his head, he was clearly shaking," Mike said, adding, "By the time we got the man out of the car and laying on the street, the car was engulfed in smoke and flames."
Cherry was flown to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in serious condition. It's unclear what exact medical condition caused him to lose control.
The good Samaritans explain about 8 to 10 people jumped out of their cars to drag Cherry to safety.
"Everybody came together, the guy with the fire extinguisher, my brother-in-law who broke the window, the doctor on the scene, everybody just helped him," Mike said.
Cathy thinks of what could have been.
"They got him out before the fire department came; if people kept driving and didn't stop, it could have been a different outcome," Cathy said.
