The Car Started Rolling. Then Came the Good Samaritans

A Florida woman who suffered a medical emergency last week while behind the wheel is safe, thanks to a bunch of Good Samaritans who jumped out of their own vehicles to help her. WPBF reports the incident took place May 5 at a busy intersection in Boynton Beach, and the Boynton Beach Police Department has released video of what transpired. In the footage, the woman's car can be seen slowly rolling into the middle of the intersection as other cars zip by, many drivers still not realizing something is amiss. Another woman can then be seen in the frame jumping out of her own car and dashing after the rolling vehicle. It turns out that woman was a co-worker of the woman in the rolling car and had happened to be right next to her when she noticed her colleague slumped over the wheel.

In the video, other Good Samaritans soon join in the effort to stop the car from moving, throwing themselves in front of it and pushing back on it until it finally comes to a halt. Per NBC Miami, one bystander grabbed a dumbbell out of her own car so that the rescuers could smash a window in the car and unlock the doors. The helpers were able to push the car to safety in a nearby parking lot, and a nurse on the scene administered first aid until paramedics arrived. The woman, IDed by CBS12 as Laurie Rabyor, is now OK. She explains to the news outlet that she'd become dizzy and passed out after taking meds for high blood pressure and also fasting before a medical procedure. She notes she tried to get to a nearby gas station when she started feeling not right, but didn't make it.

That's when "I went out and started to convulse, and I hit the curb," she says. "I didn't wake up until the next day." The Boynton Beach Police Department has been able to ID some of the other Good Samaritans, but it's now trying to figure out who all the helpers in the video were so they can arrange a get-together with Rabyor. "We want to reunite them with the woman whose life they saved," the department tweeted Wednesday. "If you know them, email slaters@bbfl.us." As for Rabyor, she's exceedingly grateful for those who came to her rescue, telling CBS12, "I wish I was a millionaire, so I could buy y'all a boat." And also: "I would like to give the other lady back her dumbbell because [it's] still in my car." (More Good Samaritan stories.)