When the car belonging to a man who works serving veteran patients spun out-of-control, hit gasoline pumps and burst into flames, the man had to depend on the help of others to save his life.
John Catana, 63, was on his way to work at the Veterans Administration Medical Center on Thursday morning when he tried to make a turn on a yellow traffic light at Clairmont and Briarcliff roads near I-85 in DeKalb County.
“A car hit me on the left side, and then I started circling,” Catana said. “I lost control of my steering and my brakes.”
Catana's car went into a gas station, and the back of the vehicle slammed into two gas pumps and erupted into flames .
“I tried to get out but I couldn’t," he said. “My windshield was shattered, and that seemed to be the only way out.”
Catana said several people tried to help him. One man reached in through the windshield to pull him out.
Everything happened so fast, it didn’t register what happened until later, he said. “I was in shock.”
Catana’s car and the two gas pumps were heavily damaged by the fire along, along with the end of the canopy covering the station’s pumps. No other injuries were reported.
With few scratches and no burns, Cantana walked away with minor injuries. “I have a lingering chest pain from when the air bag hit, but the tests came back negative for any serious problems,” he said.
Catana said he believes life is a gift and that the man who rescued him was an angel sent by God.
“When a car is in flames, you never know when the explosion will be,” Catana said. “You have to have great courage to save someone else when your life is in danger too.”
Edgar Evans, who had been in a hospital earlier this week for rheumatoid arthritis, pulled Catana out of the burning car.
"God gave me the energy and strength to reach in there and get him out," Evans told AM750 and now 95.5FM News/Talk WSB. "I just thank God the guy's all right."
Catana is a respiratory therapist and is often around patients who may not have long to live.
“I see a lot of patients in bad shape, so I know what it means to save a life,” he said. “Sometimes you can’t, even after you’ve done all you can.”
Canton lives with his wife in Lawrenceville and has three daughters. “My family and my co-workers are just glad to see me and hear my voice,” he said.
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