Car Rolls Over Sunbather but Sand Saves Life
A woman leaving a beach with her children backed her car over a sunbather’s head and stopped it on his chest, but the soft sand saved the man’s life, police said today.
Thomas DeMartino, 36, was listed in stable condition at Bayfront Medical Center with head and neck bruises.
“You can still see the tire marks,” St. Petersburg Police Officer Pete Foreman said. “The wheel pushed his head into the sand. If it wasn’t for the sand, he might not have made it.”
Foreman said DeMartino, a lawyer, was sunbathing with his wife Tuesday at a narrow stretch of sandy roadside beach near his home.
Carol Rhodes of Fort Wayne, Ind., had loaded her four children into the family’s Toyota, which was packed with luggage for their two-week vacation. She was backing up to turn the car toward the highway.
“I didn’t see him lying there, none of us saw anything. I swear,” said Rhodes, who was charged with careless driving.
Foreman said DeMartino started to scream when the left rear wheel rolled over his head, and witnesses said the driver then stopped, frozen.
Bystander Jeff Geldart said he pulled everyone from the car, tossed out the luggage and with help of four other men lifted the car from DeMartino.
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