A Hempfield woman does not remember much about a crash Wednesday after being pulled from her overturned SUV by two passing good Samaritans assisted by a state trooper, but she’s glad they stopped to help.
“I’m sorry, I don’t remember much about it. I’m still sore, but OK,” said Joan K. Mahanes, 78. “It was scary.”
Trooper Ryan Ilich reported Mahanes was driving on North Greengate Road just after 6 p.m. when she turned her 2019 Buick Enclave onto Hempfield Plaza Boulevard.
Mahanes veered off the side of the road into a grassy area near a guardrail and overturned, Ilich said.
The SUV flipped onto its right side, falling into a culvert, Ilich said.
“(Mahanes) began to be choked by her seatbelt,” Ilich said.
Two passersby who saw the crash had stopped and were attempting to pull Mahanes out of the vehicle when Ilich pulled up to the scene, he said.
Ilich jumped on top of the vehicle and held the door open as the two pulled Mahanes out to safety, Ilich said.
She was taken by Mutual Aid Ambulance to Excela Health hospital in Greensburg as a precaution but was released late Wednesday.
Firefighters from Grapeville assisted at the scene, police said.
