ALTOONA — The metal crunching accident happened on Hubbell Ave in Altoona on Tuesday. Local 5 has been told that a man drove through a red stop light, t-boning a lady in another vehicle.
Local 5’s Lakyn McGee spoke with her and she says she’s in serious pain. The Altoona Fire Department took a life saving measure to get her out of that vehicle.
It took multiple firefighters to get Nicole Barning out of her vehicle.
“I was just happy I was alive.”
Nicole has been back and forth to the doctor since the crash.
“I heard tire squeal and I looked over and seen his car coming at me. He came to see if I was okay. He said he just looked up and noticed the light was red just too late.”
The Altoona Fire Department arrived just minutes later, using the Jaws of Life to rescue her.
Doug Richardson with the Altoona Fire Department breaks down the process that the department goes through before breaking out the life saving machine.
“We go by the rule, try before you pry. So, rather than going and beating up a door and cutting it out we will try the handle first to see if the simplistic way works.”
So far this year, the Altoona Fire Department has used the Jaws of Life about half a dozen times.
Local 5 even got a chance to test to see how it cuts through medal. Lakyn McGee was shocked with the ease of the machine.
“Wow! That was easy!”
We then took it a step further. Can the Jaws of Life cut through wood and medal at the same time?
“Got it!”
The machine weighs 50 pounds and is battery operated.
As for Nicole, she’s bruised up and recovering, but says she’s very thankful.
“Those speeds and then to push that door in, that’s a lot of force. If you can only imagine that force moving into the human body it can be pretty significant. She’s absolutely lucky,” said Richardson.
The Altoona Fire Department trains with the Jaws of Life once a year. Their next training is coming up next week.