ATHENS, Ga. — A lifelong friendship formed out of a life-threatening crash in Athens.
An off-duty firefighter was just yards away from a near-fatal crash this past November when he jumped into action to help save the life of a young woman behind the wheel.
Athens-Clarke Firefighter EMT Zack Tankersley and Skylar Sparr are now both smiling. Their families have met and they say they were meant to all be friends.
But it's a friendship they almost didn't have a chance to start after Skylar was hit head-on the day before Thanksgiving.
Since the crash, Skylar has been working hard to get movement back in her hand at physical therapy. She can't walk yet after a head-on crash in November that nearly killed her.
Skylar said she's so grateful she has support in her recovery.
"Just knowing that there's someone behind you makes everything better," she said.
Or on the night of her accident... above her.
"I don't remember seeing his face, I could hear him," she said.
When Skylar's car was hit head-on the day before Thanksgiving, Zack was the first on the scene.
"I couldn't go underneath, and I tried going through the windshield, but that wasn't going to work," she said.
He knew how serious the crash was and he knew he had to get to Skylar.
"There was a sunroof that was broken out and that's where he was the entire time. He held my hand, he advocated for me," she said.
With his six years of training in the fire service, he noticed right away that she was quickly bleeding out.
"I said, 'Skylar, there is no way to sugar-coat this, this is going to hurt really bad.' So I got the towels packed under her arm, got the bleeding to stop," he said.
"That is exactly what kept me alive, the measures he took," she said.
And how quickly he took them, as he was off-duty at the time when the crash happened.
"I heard two semis colliding, is what it sounded like. And I said, oh, that is not good. I need to turn around and look at this, but I am scared to," he said.
Zack was hunting with his dad, up in a deer stand in Crawford, Georgia, just outside of Athens when he heard the crash.
"He came out of nowhere and was like, "'My name is Zack, I am a firefighter for Athens,'" Skylar recalled.
When emergency crews arrived a few minutes later, Zack was able to coordinate their rescue efforts and keep Skylar calm.
"It is a blessing that I just happened to be sitting right there in the deer stand, it's amazing, God put me there," he said.
But he said she's the one who did all the hard work.
"She is a fighter, she was fighting that whole time in the car, on her way to the hospital, she never gave up hope," he said.
Skylar wrote to the fire department to tell them how Zack saved her life that day, and she got to see him again when he was honored with an award for what he did.
Skylar said having the chance to thank Zack in person meant everything to her.
"I don't think he knows how much I can thank him. We will just be forever friends," she said.
Zack said he was so impressed with how far Skylar has come since that crash.
She had a dislocated and fractured hip, her arm was mangled, and her elbow was broken so badly it lacerated her artery.
She said without a doubt if it weren't for Zack's help, she would not be here today.