NORFOLK, Va. — When a serious crash happened inside the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT) earlier this week, a group of Good Samaritans stopped to help the injured driver.
Tigist Kenney is an Intensive Care Unit nurse. She said she was traveling to work on Thursday morning when she encountered a single-vehicle crash inside the tunnel.
"It was very traumatic, very, traumatic and hard," she told 13News Now.
Kenney said that while other commuters drove past the vehicle, she decided to stop.
"People were going fast, and I slowed down. I stopped. When I looked, there was a female, young lady, inside the car leaning to the right side, close to the passenger side," she said.
Virginia State Police say 22-year-old Trinity Downs of Hampton was traveling in the westbound lanes of the tunnel when she lost control of her SUV, striking the jersey wall.
She was seriously hurt and eventually taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital with life-threatening injuries.
However, before first responders could reach Downs, Kenney chose to stop and help.
"The first thing I said was 'think, what are you going to do next?' So, I had to stop the traffic. I literally waved at the people, the people were still going while I was stopping them," she said.
Soon, other drivers also stopped and came to help.
"One of the people who stopped was an anesthesiologist from Philadelphia. She and a paramedic came in to help, and another Navy guy. We all just worked together," Kenney said.
Kenney said she continued to direct traffic while the others tended to the driver, but she doesn't consider herself a hero.
"I just happened to be in the right place at the right time that day. That's how I call it. I'm just a person," she said.
While she knows it was a dangerous situation, Kenney said she's still surprised by the number of drivers who did not stop to help, or even slow down.
"I just want to tell people to slow down. You will get there when it's your time to get there," she said.
State Police say Downs may end up facing charges related to the crash.