Rescued woman seeks highway heroes

TAMPA (FOX 13) - A Bay area woman is looking for her guardian angels, saying she just cannot thank them enough for what they did over the weekend.

In an e- mail to FOX 13 Sunday, Brittany Bregman says they saved her life after a terrifying accident.

"I never knew what fear was until yesterday," she added on her Facebook page.

Bregman is a facepainter, and was driving on I -75 South to a 5-year-old's birthday on Saturday evening, when a torrential wall of rain seemed to come out of nowhere.

Bregman's car fishtailed and flipped off the highway just north of the Causeway overpass. The vehicle ended up on its side.

Dazed and confused, Bregman took her keys and broke the window. In the meantime, passersby had stopped to help. They were able to get her out through the back gate.

Stuart McMIllan, who was just coming home from work at JP Morgan, says Bregman was so weak-kneed, she collapsed into his arms.

Two nurses who had arrived were able to calm her down, while another young man wiggled into her car and found her keys and  purse. 

It turned out Bregman was not severely hurt. She was, however, pretty banged up, so she was sent to the hospital to be checked out.  "These people surrounded me with umbrellas, dry towels, dialing 911 and retrieving my personal items from my vehicle, holding me tight, to hold my back, neck and head in place to avoid being paralyzed. I owe these people my life," said Bregman.

"It was really great to see how many people helped," said McMillan.

No one has a headcount, but Bregman wants to find the Good Samaritans who were there in her time of need.

McMillan called FOX 13 after he saw the story on our morning newscasts. Bregman hopes other folks get in touch as well.