A South Florida woman reunited with the construction workers and first responders who came to her rescue after she found herself pinned beneath a car in Fort Lauderdale.
The victim of the Nov. 30 crash, who asked to be identified as Beth, was among those present on Saturday at the 2025 Medals Day ceremony, where several Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue members were honored for their heroic actions.
Best, who asked not to show her face on camera, said her memory has been erased of those terrifying moments late last year.
“I don’t have memory of it. God took all the memory away from me, so I don’t remember it,” she said.
Beth said it all happened while she was out on her morning walk along the 500 block of Seabreeze Boulevard
“Somebody was speeding at 6:30 in the morning, and a car pulled out in front of him, and the speeding car rolled on top of me,” she said.
A group of construction workers and Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue crews rushed to physically lift the vehicle off Beth.
Hugo Toro was one of those workers. He spoke to 7News through a translator.
“I see the person underneath was moving. When I saw them move, I screamed, ‘She’s alive,’ and started calling people to gather,” he said. “A few of us were there, and some police officers began to lift the car.”
“I would have been dead without them helping me,” said Beth. “We wouldn’t be here talking about this. They could have gotten hurt themselves, but they sprang into action and helped.”
Beth had the opportunity to thank her rescuers for the first time Saturday.
For Toro, this was the first time he knew his efforts saved her life.
“That always stuck with me. Then, when they invited to this, and I saw her, of course, I just started thanking God,” he said.
Toro and several FLFR members were honored at the ceremony, which was hosted by 7News anchor and Deco Drive host Lynn Martinez.
These first responders respond to more than 56,000 calls a year, but for Beth, this one call meant everything.
“It was a miracle that they were there to help, a miracle that they did, and God was looking out for me,” she said.
Beth said she still has a long road to recovery. She has one more surgery left, but she said she keeps getting better each and every day.