PERRYSBURG TOWNSHIP, OH (Toledo News Now) - A dangerous accident Saturday morning left 19-year-old Claire Cooper trapped in her car in a ditch. Tuesday she was reunited with the woman that rescued her.
The accident occurred around 5 a.m. Saturday, on Glenwood Road near 795. Cooper was northbound on Glenwood, tired from working all day and playing in her band all night. She lost control of her vehicle. Police say she overcorrected and went airborne about 30 feet, then landed sideways in a ditch.
The car was smashed, and Cooper was trapped inside in the dark. She called her mother Tina, but had no idea where she was.
"She says, 'Mom, I am sorry, I have been in an accident and I don't know where I am!'" Tina said. "And I am trying to calm her down, and it seemed like forever on the phone."
Armine Braun was headed to work that morning, and noticed a blue light in the ditch – a remote starter from Cooper's car. Realizing something wasn't right, Braun turned around.
"When I got out of the truck and I came to the top of the hill, gosh, I just saw her face and she was scared and crying," Braun said.
Braun called 911 and pulled Cooper from her car in the ditch. Cooper's parents said it could have been hours before another car saw her.
"Not everybody would stop, and I don't even know in a similar situation if I would stop," said Cooper's dad Randy. "I would like to think I would, but not everybody would."
After turning to WTOL and Facebook (our fans shared the post over 300 times!) to track down Braun, the Coopers sat down with her and WTOL crews at Lola's Frozen Yogurt in Perrysburg.
"I'm glad it was somebody I could help, you know," Braun said.
