A great-grandmother who suffered a diabetic episode and lost consciousness earlier this week while driving met the two people who saved her life, pulling her from her vehicle after it crashed into a creek.
Joanna Broussard has a broken collar-bone and a few broken ribs, but her doctors said she'll make a full recovery. She is expected to be released from Methodist Dallas Medical Center by Wednesday night.
Wednesday afternoon, Broussard's wishes came true: she met the strangers who jumped off the bridge and into the water to save her life.
NBC 5 viewer Anna Cruz shared her incredible video of the rescue.
Broussard was behind the wheel of her sinking SUV. Her blood sugar dropped and she blacked out while driving. She drove off the Interstate 20 bridge near Mountain Creek Parkway and ended up in the water.
The first man in the water who pulled Broussard out was 20-year-old roofer Josh Tovar.
Tovar, along with his dad Oscar, and another man, Julio Gutierrez, jumped in too.
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The group of strangers worked together to pull Broussard to safety and out of the water.
After seeing NBC 5's coverage of the crash Tuesday evening and the hospital bedside interview with Broussard, NBC 5 was able to coordinate a meeting at the hospital between Broussard and her heroes.
She was able to meet the men who saved her life and give them hugs. They also exchanged phone numbers and pledged to keep in touch.
"I feel blessed that I was able to be there at the right time," said Gutierrez, an electrician with GTZ Tech Service in Mesquite. "The car started sinking. We didn’t know if the car was going to go all the way under, so it was just a matter of timing."
"We needed to do something now, or we’d regret later if we didn’t," Gutierrez added.
Gutierrez said the water was up to his neck, and it was swift moving.
“I was trying to swim back toward the vehicle and the water just wouldn’t let me,” he said. “You actually get scared after the fact. I think it’s just the adrenaline rush that goes through your body.”
Josh Tovar was the first man in the water who opened the driver's side door and pulled Broussard out.
A nervous Tovar shook Broussard's hand and told her how happy he was to meet her.
"I'm so glad you were there for me," Broussard said.
Tovar and his stepfather are roofers for Castillo Roofing out of North Richland Hills. They were driving along I-20 to work and they saw the splash.
They stopped their car on the shoulder to see what had happened. A small crowd had gathered.
"I saw no one was getting in, so I took off my boots and I swam in. And I got to you, and you were awake, you were conscious. I told you my name. You were talking a bit, but I could see that something was wrong. Your face looked blank," he described.
Tovar said he jumped in to help a stranger because of his family.
"I have grandparents, I have a mother, I have family members. As a person I couldn’t just standby," he said. "I had to do something."
"I was shocked that nobody wanted to get in," he added. "So I went in."
"I have more faith in people. Like I said, he's my guardian angel," Broussard said.
Tovar’s father died exactly one year ago. Tovar said he felt his dad’s spirit move through him and knew he was proud.
From her hospital room, Broussard watched for the first time the video of her rescue.
"I feel great. I’m glad he was there for one thing. Because until they started pulling me out of the car, I didn’t know anything," she said.
The group stayed in the hospital room for almost a full hour. They chit-chatted and hugged and pledged to keep in touch.
"It just goes to show, different races, different people, there’s always good in somebody," said Tovar.
