‘A real angel’: Man searches for good Samaritan who rescued him after car crash

MINT HILL, N.C. — Erick Pennington was trapped in his submerged car for hours praying for help. He was rescued by a stranger and now he wants to find the person who saved his life.

Pennington had just finished his last delivery for Door Dash for the night and was headed home early Sunday.

“I was driving and I remember a deer came out of nowhere,” he said.

He says he swerved to avoid the deer and landed in a creek off Bartlett Road in Mint Hill.

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At first, he thought he was in a dream.

“I remember going into shock, going into shock because my leg was completely broken,” he said. “There was blood all over my jeans. I believe my bone was sticking out of my body.”

Pennington sat in his car for the next seven hours screaming for help.

Then, he started praying.

“I started praying to God,” he said. “Kinda saying my goodbyes to my kids, my kids in Florida, to my mother, my sister, you know? Kind of making peace with myself because I really thought it was it. I really thought I was gone.”

Not long after, Pennington says he heard a voice.

“I remember that person saying … ‘Oh my God, there’s somebody in the car. You need to get here quick,’ speaking to 911,” he said.

Now, Pennington wants to find the good Samaritan who helped him so he can thank them.

“I just want to say thank you to whoever that person was because without that person I wouldn’t be here today,” he said. “I would love to find them and just hug them; let them know that they were an angel in my life, a real literal angel.”

The father of two has another child on the way and is still recovering in the hospital. His leg is broken in three places, and he has a broken ankle and three broken ribs.

He hopes to be back home in a week or so.

If you would like to help with Pennington’s medical bills, click here.

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