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OREGON CITY, OR — Waking up in her car, Zoey Giovanini began to panic. Upside down, covered in glass, and bleeding, she quickly ran through what had just happened: There was the turn, the rock, and the swerve, then brakes, then sky and ground — roughly six times before coming to a stop upside down in Abernethy Creek.
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“As soon as the car started rolling, I thought I would die,” Zoey told Patch on Thursday, nearly 24 hours since crashing her red 2007 Toyota Camry on South Maplelane Road in Oregon City. “I feel extremely lucky to be alive.”
Matching Zoey’s enthusiasm for life is her mother’s frustration for an apparent lack of concern shown by numerous passersby who drove right by Zoey as she screamed and pleaded for help after the crash.
“(Zoey) said at least 10 cars drove by without helping,” Nicole Gornick said in a Facebook post, noting her belief that society has reached a new low when “a 16-year-old petrified girl can’t get help in a crisis.”
Nicole’s faith in humanity was at least slightly restored, however, when Mark Hansen rounded the same turn and saw Zoey’s car upside down in the creek.
“Immediately after seeing the car I see this young girl waving me down,” Mark told Patch. “She was obviously very upset and had blood coming from her arm; but the first thing she said was that nobody would stop. It broke my heart a little bit.”
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THE CRASH
Zoey was heading to Oregon City after leaving a friend’s house Wednesday afternoon when the crash occurred. She was going to pick up her younger sister for a “little sister date,” she said.
Zoey said she’d slowed to about 30 mph as she entered the curvy portion of South Maplelane Road by Abernethy Creek. As she maneuvered the first drop into the turn by the bridge, Zoey swerved and slammed on her brakes to avoid a “golfball-sized rock” in the roadway, she said.
The next few moments, which couldn’t have lasted more than 10 seconds, are a little fuzzy, Zoey admitted. What she remembers is hitting the guardrail on the bridge and launching into the air. Next, she knows she hit the ground and rolled before briefly passing out — but until her family told her how many markings were left in the dirt, she didn’t realize it had been six times before she came to rest upside down in the creek.
When she came to, Zoey “freaked out,” she said. Pawing at the steering wheel and her seatbelt, Zoey tried desperately to get out of the car; she said she was worried about it exploding, or something equally terrible. She tried to find her phone in the process, but was so hurried she abandoned it.
Shoving her driver’s side door open, Zoey wedged her way out of the Toyota; but not before the door collapsed shut on her leg, leaving a significant bruise.
Climbing out of the ditch and back onto the road, Zoey took in the horror of the crash. Pieces of the Camry were everywhere, she said. She began screaming for help.
Between 10 and 15 cars drove by Zoey during this time, she said. With no one stopping to help, she limped her way up a nearby driveway to a home and knocked on the door. No one answered, so she limped back down to the road.
THE ‘GUARDIAN ANGEL’
Mark, a Wilsonville resident and field representative for the Northwest Textbook Depository, was traveling to Sandy for work when he happened upon Zoey’s crashed car. He stopped without really thinking, he said.
“She was so upset. She kept saying her parents would be mad at her,” Mark said. “I told her, ‘No. Your parents will be happy you’re OK.'”
Leaving Zoey momentarily, Mark walked down to the flipped car and retrieved Zoey’s handbag, passport, and vehicle registration — what he figured she’d need in the immediate future, he said. Giving Zoey back her things, Mark settled in to wait for first responders.
About three or four minutes after stopping Mark heard sirens in the distance. He said someone else must have called it in because they were coming before he could call.
Zoey first called her mother, who showed up shortly after emergency responders, Mark said.
With Zoey now with her family and emergency professionals, Mark made his way back to his own car to find that he’d been blocked in by emergency vehicles. As he sat and waited for everyone to clear out, Mark reflected on his own children — 14, 16, and 19 years old.
“I just did what needed to be done,” he said. “If my kids were ever in that position, I’d hope someone would do the same for them.”
He didn’t stop for recognition or fanfare, it was just the right thing to do, Mark said. So whether he now considers himself a “guardian angel,” as Nicole so generously dubbed him, Mark doesn’t know about all that.
“My wife thinks I’m OK,” he said with a chuckle.
THE LESSON
“I’ve only had my license for a month,” Zoey said. “All I think about is when you’re first driving you don’t really think anything bad will happen. My only suggestion is to pay attention to your surroundings … I was very surprised a rock caused that much damage.”
Bruised, scratched up, and nursing a sore neck, Zoey said she feels lucky to be alive, now home after being released from hospital. So thankful for her health was Zoey that she even sent Toyota an email thanking the company for making a safe vehicle.
With no broken bones or apparent long-term psychological trauma, she’ll lick her wounds and get back on the road as soon as she can, she said.
“Obviously I don’t have a car right now, so I won’t be driving anytime soon; but I know I’ll drive again,” Zoey said confidently. “It was the scariest day of my life. I don’t want anyone else to experience that.”
Images via Nicole Gornick