CHESTERFIELD TWP., Mich. (FOX 2) - "What they did was completely priceless," said Nicole Brace. "I’m thankful there’s people like that out in the world."
Gifts and gratitude filled the parking lot outside of the Chesterfield Township Police Department Tuesday afternoon. That’s where Nicole and her three kids gave a special thank you to good Samaritans who rushed to help when their family got into a terrifying car crash.
This browser does not support the Video element.
"Fear that we were dying," Nicole said, "I couldn’t move or really wake up, so I thought I was stuck there."
Back on Dec. 16. Nicole said a truck in front of her slipped on black ice and spun out of control at Hickey and Gratiot. Nicole said she tried to stop, but couldn’t because of the ice and slammed into the truck. That’s when Ron Recchia and his brother, Jim, drove by.
"Not too far ahead of us, we see the car tumbling across the lanes of Gratiot and by the time we got there, Nicole’s car was already against the pole," Ron said.
Nicole said several good samaritans pulled over to help, including Dave Frame.
"We came up on the escalade leaning on the telephone pole, with it on fire," Dave said. "So, we jumped out the truck, we ran to it and then climbed underneath and started pulling kids out."
The Recchias’ then gave the family coats and hats to keep them warm. Nicole said she was in shock and didn’t get any of the good samaritans’ names. So, Nicole made an emotional Facebook post that took off and helped her re-connect with her family’s heroes.
"2020 has been such a horrible year and a rollover car accident and catching on fire is a horrible thing," Nicole said. "I ask myself, what can I take from this? Myself and my kids are alive because of these people."
Now, while the Brace family said words can’t fully express how thankful they are for those good samaritans, They’re happy they got to shower them with gifts and gratitude.