By Laura French
CHERRY HILL, N.J. — A woman who was severely injured in a car crash in New Jersey 20 years ago is searching for the off-duty EMT who helped save her life.
Beth Mazgajewski suffered a collapsed lung, 37 bone fractures and internal bleeding as a result of the Sept. 22, 2001 crash, according to the Daily Voice. Mazgajewski said a man managed to pry the door open on her totaled vehicle, said he was an off-duty EMT, and held onto her to stop her from moving around until further help arrived.
“Because of the severity of my injuries, I think this man saved my life,” Mazgajewski said in a Facebook post shared to a Cherry Hill, N.J., community page. “For nearly 20 years I have thought about this man and how lucky I was that he was there.”
According to Mazgajewski’s post, the crash occurred as she was making a left turn onto Haddonfield-Berlin Road in Cherry Hill, exiting the parking lot of the TD Bank next to a restaurant called Vito’s Pizza. Her car was a maroon Mazda Protege, and she said she believes her rescuer may have been a man in his 30s or early 40s with dark hair, although she added that she may be wrong about that exact description.
Mazgajewski also included a photograph of herself taken a few weeks after the crash. She said the photo is her engagement photo, and that she was able to recover enough from her injuries to eventually walk down the aisle.
According to WPVI, her Facebook post made its way to Cherry Hill EMS, which is helping her in her search. EMS Battalion Chief Dave Milsted said the agency no longer has the records from the crash, but that members are doing their best to help Mazgajewski find closure.