BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – Thirty-three days after surviving a deadly wrong-way crash on Interstate 37 in Elmendorf, Emma Bond is heading home.
The fiery crash ended with one person, the wrong-way driver, dead and Bond rushed to a hospital. A third person was also taken to a hospital.
Bond’s saving grace came in the form of two people who had never met her before but who stopped to help.
Christen Cantu and Stephen Corley were both in the area the morning of the crash.
“I remember I had my flashlight,” Corley said.
“You were flagging down everybody that was driving,” Cantu remembered.
Cantu pulled Bond out of her burning vehicle. Corley said he shined a flashlight at drivers coming down the highway to slow them down and make them aware of the scene.
“There’s no doubt she would not be here today without Christen,” Shara Bond, Emma’s mom, said.
Emma doesn’t remember anything from the crash. In a video call with Corley and Cantu, Corley reminded her that she was awake and talking.
“I feel like this made me have an even more positive look on life because when you’re progressing, it just feels good,” Bond said.
Emma Bond defied long odds and made friends for life along the way.
“It’s awesome to see the progress she’s made from what happened,” Cantu said. “From what could’ve been.”
“We are now family,” Shara Bond said.
Emma Bond even lucked out with some pampering at the rehab facility.
“Our neighbor, she’s a hairdresser,” Emma Bond said. “She’s awesome. She was willing to drive up here and cut my hair.”
Shara Bond’s nail technician also went to the rehab facility and gave Emma her first manicure since the crash, a positive boost for an already positive person.
The Bond family is still searching for answers but Shara Bond’s message remains the same.
“If you’re going to go out and drink, do it the smart way,” Shara Bond said. “You shouldn’t drink and drive.”
Emma Bond encountered 33 days of challenges and overcame every single one.
“I am so proud of her,” Shara Bond said. “You never think you’re going to be in this position, and she has been so positive.”
Emma Bond will be released from rehab on Thursday, Jan. 23, 34 days after the crash.
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