Anthony James Bennefield.Photo: GoFundMe
A Georgia man is recounting a horrifying moment when he crashed his car that was going over 100 mph to avoid hurting or killing other drivers.
Anthony James Bennefield, an off-duty EMT and father of three, was driving to work on Christmas Eve last year when he says his accelerator got stuck. As his speed increased, he called 911 to ask for help, but after the call was dropped, he made the quick decision to crash the car.
“I definitely thought thatI was gonna die,” Bennefield toldInside Edition. “It was the most terrifying experience in my life. As soon as I left the road, kind of shoved my arms out just to try to protect my head.”
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Bennefield told officers his car kept accelerating and “reaching speeds of 100 mph,” before he eventually decided to stop the car using “outside forces.”
The car then “slid sideways onto a median in the parking lot, striking it, causing his vehicle to roll onto the passenger side,” the crash reported added, which caused the vehicle to eventually came to a stop.
A police spokesman told PEOPLE that Bennefield had to be extracted from the car.
Bennefield, who hasno medical insurance, is now hoping to raise money to help pay his medical bills from the crash through a GoFundMe page.
“According to everyone else, I rolled several times crushing the passenger side of the vehicle before coming to a stop,” Bennefield wrote on the crowdfunding page.
“After being flown to the best trauma center in the state, I was eventually discharged not much worse for the wear,” he wrote. “Grateful to all the people that took part in saving my life, but now I’m looking at two enormous medical bills with no way to pay them.”
Bennefield did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
source: people.com
