ATLANTA — Courtney Barcellos was driving home along GA-400 in the first few hours of 2022 while her girlfriend was fast asleep in the passenger seat. Neither knew that their new year would start with an adrenaline-rushing heroic moment.
"There's a car on fire," Barcellos said. "And so we both took off running towards the scene."
Traffic came to an abrupt stop around 3 a.m. on Jan. 1, according to Barcellos. Barcellos was caught in the backup as drivers came across a fiery wreck.
Atlanta Police said the driver struck a concrete barrier wall on the GA-400 South ramp to I-85 South. The impact caused the car to overturn and catch on fire, according to police. Officers said when they arrived, the car was engulfed in flames and the driver had died.
But Barcellos and other good samaritans were there before EMS made it to the scene, she said.
"The young man who had the fire extinguisher, (I) watched him break the window, and then toss the fire extinguisher out. And so I looked at my girlfriend, she looked at me," Barcellos said.
They both jumped into action.
Barcellos is a trained firefighter medic, and her partner has a decade of experience as an ER nurse. Barcellos said she saw two people pull a passenger out of the crushed vehicle. She said that's when she reached for her trauma bag in the truck.
"And a guy is leaning out his window, recording it," Barcellos said. "Doing what most people do -- recording and don't stop, which is what causes traffic and causes more accidents and things like that."
Both Barcellos and her girlfriend rushed through the small crowd of people gathering around the crash ready to act.
"She gets down on the ground and checks for right breathing and a pulse," Barcellos said. "And she starts compression on Kelsey."
Kelsey, according to Barcellos, was the passenger that was pulled from the wreck. At the time, Barcellos didn't know who she was but knew she was someone who needed help.
"I got down on the ground and we started helping," Barcellos said. "Assessing her as best we could and keeping her as awake and as conscious as possible. My girlfriend mentioned to do the sternal rub to get her to react -- she wasn't responding to (my) voice."
Kelsey was unaware of the crash, according to Barcellos. She only knew her name.
"There was no safe way to move her not knowing her extent of injuries," Barcellos said. "And the car continues to explode and all of that stuff."
Barcellos said medics eventually arrived and took Kelsey to the hospital. An Atlanta Police Department release said the passenger of the crash was taken to the hospital in stable condition.
"The response time felt like it took forever," Barcellos said. "The last point that I saw was (her) getting wheeled to an ambulance."
Barcellos said when EMS arrived she knew it was time to transfer care. Looking back, Barcellos said she was glad they rushed to help.
"It's in my blood," Barcellos said. "It's who I am and my core."
Barcellos said she has always had the yearning to serve, to step in and aid however they can.
"And I believe that people who have devoted themselves in this field, it's who you are at your core," Barcellos said.
Barcellos said if there's anything people should take away from this story it's to remember to be human when coming across a crash.
"It's OK to just keep going if you're not going to do anything because it doesn't help to stop it actually makes it more dangerous and makes it worse," Barcellos said. "And don't forget that that person that you're recording, that car that's on fire, that you don't know if somebody got out of or not. That's someone's family, that could be your family in there."
Barcellos said other people can help by donating to a GoFundMe page to care for the two people involved in the wreck.
