Woman calls 911 with her toes after crushing hands while changing a tyre

Trapped, alone, and in excruciating pain, she was able to slip off a shoe and use her phone to call for help

A firefighter uses a hydraulic tool to lift a car after a woman's hands were crushed while changing a tyre on 2 February, 2020, near North Charleston, South Carolina. (Colleton County Fire-Rescue)

A quick-thinking woman managed to call the emergency services with her toes - after her hands were crushed while she changed a tyre.

The incident happened in a dark, rural section of Interstate 95 in Colleton County, South Carolina, on Sunday evening.

The 54-year-old woman from Charlotte, North Carolina, was travelling north near mile marker 68 when she suffered a flat tyre, forcing her to pull over into the breakdown lane.

Having removed the flat tyre, she was replacing it with the spare when then jack slipped and the car fell, crushing both of her hands between the tyre and the fender.

Trapped, alone, and in excruciating pain, she was able to slip off one shoe and work her mobile phone into a position through which she could use her toes to dial.

After a number of attempts, she was finally able to dial 911 and talk to an emergency operator.

Colleton County Fire Rescue units were dispatched to rescue her just before 7pm.

Help arrived just eight minutes later as a crew had been attending to another incident in the area.

A first attempt to free the woman with a prybar was unsuccessful. A second attempt, this time deflating the tyre, only succeeded in dropping the car further.

Using the prybar once again, they were able to free one of her hands, and at this point Engine 26 arrived on the scene.

The crew were then able to deploy a hydraulic spreader to lift the vehicle, freeing her other hand.

The unnamed woman had been trapped for 45 minutes and suffered severe damage to both hands and all of her fingers.

Paramedics treated her injuries and administered pain medications on site, before transporting her to the trauma centre at Trident Hospital in North Charleston.