A scream from outside was enough to pull workers from their businesses in Prospect Park, Pennsylvania.
When they reached the street, they found a woman beneath a Volkswagen Beetle.
There was no crane, jack or rescue equipment waiting nearby. The people gathering around the car had what they had: their hands, each other and very little time.
What followed was captured on video — but getting the 44-year-old e-bike rider out from underneath the Volkswagen was only part of what happened that morning.
Everybody Lifts
The crash happened around 9:40 a.m. Monday at 11th Street and Lincoln Avenue in Delaware County, according to 6abc.
Christine Vollmer of CV Signs heard the collision from inside her shop. When she ran outside, she could see the woman’s legs beneath the Beetle.
Amelia Cannon of Nolet Home Care Agency heard the woman calling for help and tried to lift the car herself.
More people started arriving.
Vollmer spotted a delivery driver and recruited him too. FedEx driver Karl Wise joined the people gathering around the Volkswagen.
Video shared by Prospect Park police shows people converging on the car before the group gets underneath it and lifts. CBS Philadelphia reported that seven people eventually worked together to raise the Beetle enough to pull the woman free.
No specialized equipment was involved.
Prospect Park Police Chief Dave Madonna described it as people using “brute force” to get the vehicle off her.
Wise gave a considerably less dramatic account of his own role.
“I’m no hero. I’m just a guy doing a job, that’s all,” he told FOX 29.
The rider was taken to Lankenau Hospital.
Before The Impact
The Beetle had not simply run over someone riding along the street.
Madonna said the 44-year-old Ridley Park woman had been traveling on her e-bike at roughly 20 to 25 mph and was trying to pass traffic while hurrying to an appointment.
The Volkswagen was making a right turn.
Police said its driver had activated his turn signal before turning and the e-bike collided with the car.
The impact left the rider underneath the Volkswagen.
Madonna told FOX 29 Philadelphia that she had been traveling too fast for the road and conditions. The station also reported that she was not wearing a helmet.
Police concluded that the Volkswagen driver was not at fault and is not expected to face charges.
The e-bike rider, however, may receive a traffic citation once the investigation is finished.
Back On Their Feet
The woman’s injuries were serious enough to require surgery.
Police initially described chest injuries and said she was in stable condition. FOX 29 later reported that she underwent surgery for a broken collarbone and other injuries.
Madonna returned to the businesses near the crash Wednesday, this time without an emergency unfolding in the street.
He wanted to thank the people who had run toward it.
Cannon wasn’t particularly interested in the hero label.
“I wouldn’t say hero,” she told 6abc. “I just helped someone in need.”
Police are also trying to identify everyone visible helping in the rescue so the borough can recognize them at a future council meeting.