PASADENA – It was a heartwarming reunion, three days in the making.
Marissa Soto was in tears Friday as she hugged the two men, she credits with saving her life during Tuesday’s EF-3 tornado.
“I was so scared, I thought I was going to be lifted up. Your life flashes between your eyes,” Soto said.
The UPS truck driver says she was near the 6100 block of Spencer Highway when strong winds knocked over her truck.
“I put the truck in park, and I was going to try and book it to the ditch,”' she said. “And as soon as I was trying to get out of the truck, my truck went down.”
Soto was trapped inside until Manuel Silva and Luis O’Campo stopped to help.
The two men worked together and kicked in the delivery vehicle’s front windows.
“I was just thinking about getting her out, getting her to safety. If something happens to me, to my truck to anything that belongs to me, I didn’t care about it, I just wanted her to be in safety,” said Silva.
Luis was with his wife Brenda who pulled out her cell phone and began recording.
“At that time, you don’t think you just want to help the person,” Brenda said. “But it wasn’t only us two that went out to help people it was, Pasadena police department, firemen, first responders the teachers, the electrical linemen.”
The brave act created an unbreakable bond between what were once just strangers.
“For these two people, to risk their lives to save a stranger is pretty amazing,” Soto said.