DOT worker who saved motorist nearly crushed by own car reunite on Long Island
SYOSSET, Long Island (WABC) -- When a car fell off a jack and trapped the person working underneath it on the Long Island Expressway, a good Samaritan's quick action saved a man's life.
Motorist Ricardo Farciert was nearly crushed, but a highway worker came to his rescue.
"I didn't know if I was going to survive," Farciert said. "I'm pretty sure without Anthony, it should be a different story."
It happened this past summer as Department of Transportation worker Anthony Beato was patrolling the Long Island Expressway for stranded motorists in his state "help" truck.
Beato pulled over when he spotted two men changing a tire, but suddenly he says the car slipped off the jack and landed on Farciert.
"When the car fell on him, he didn't move at all," Beato said. "And there was no leg movement. Nothing was moving."
In an instant, he grabbed his own jack and lifted the car off Farciert's chest.
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"He was in bad shape -- let's put it that way," Beato said.
He says the wheel left an imprint on Farciert's chest, yet he survived with just a gash on his forehead and broken ribs.
"When I felt the car on me, I tried to push but it was impossible," Farciert said. "I really thought I'm going to die."
On Tuesday, Beato was honored in a ceremony by State Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez.
"Every day we've got a lot of bad news facing us," Dominguez said. "This is truly a good news story."
The DOT puts 15 "help" teams on the roads in and around New York City during the morning and evening rush hours, assisting roughly 60 motorists every day and 70,000 every year statewide.
ALSO READ: 4 dead, 1 critical in wrong-way head-on crash on Southern State Parkway on Long Island
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