Woman Tracks Down, Thanks Firefighters 3 Years After Near Fatal Accident

JESSUP, Md. (WJZ) -- A woman is thanking an Anne Arundel County fire and rescue crew in Jessup for saving her life after an almost fatal accident more than three years ago.

Christie Ileto explains why Lori Gay says she's been waiting years to say thank you.

It took Lori Gay a little more than three years to track down the people she says saved her life. And while that may be awhile, she says the timing was perfect.

Fighting back tears, Lori Gay is personally thanking first responders of Station 29 in Jessup--who she credits for more than saving her life in November 2009.

"They saved my life. They gave me my life," said Gay.

Pictures of her mangled, flattened yellow pickup truck tell a gruesome story of the accident that almost left her dead on Route 295 near Route 32 almost four years ago.

"These are only four of the individuals who were on the call with you," a firefighter said.

But tracking down four of the nine who responded that night was no easy task.

"I went to every fire station I could find in Anne Arundel County. They kept telling me that they didn't respond, they didn't know who responded," said Gay.

Three years later, she says she found Station 29.

"It was important to me to come to you and thank you because I feel that you guys gave me my life," she said.

The accident left her with spinal cord damage and brain injuries. She now walks with a cane.

"I just want to thank you for everything that you did. You all gave me that opportunity to be where I am today, to be walking and talking. Is my life difficult and hard? Of course, but it could have been so much worse for me," she said.

It's gratitude that may have come years later, but Gay says it was perfect timing.

The fire and rescue team that helped Gay says they were just doing their job.

Gay is currently undergoing extensive rehabilitation.