Seeing the charred remains of the Dodge Neon, it's hard to believe anyone survived.
"You heard this thing just hit the side of the ground," Jeremy Jones explained. "It was just a loud smack."
Jones, 18, says he and six friends, who are students at Southern Wayne High School, were swimming in Mill Creek off of Williford Road near the Johnston-Wayne County line when they heard a crash.
"We heard tires squealing and then all of a sudden we heard a big boom, and we all got out of the water and we ran up -- bathing suits, no shoes, no shirt -- ran up," Jones said. "And we run past the car because we couldn't see it because it was actually wrapped in vine in the trees."
Hearing screams for help, they yanked poison ivy vines off the car. Troopers say the car crashed into a tree going 70 miles per hour in a 55 mile per hour zone.
"We pulled this first guy out, and he's all bloodied up and his girlfriend comes out and then another girl comes out," Jones added. "And then they said there was another guy, but he wasn't wearing a seatbelt. He was underneath the car that rolled up underneath the tree and there was a dead log on top of him."
Three of the teens lifted the car and the log off the man troopers identified as the driver, 24-year-old Matthew Williams.
"We thought he was dead," Jones said. "And he said, 'uuuuh,' and he started breathing and we toted him out to the road and the car caught on fire."
All of this happened before first responders arrived. Investigators say paramedics rushed Williams to the hospital with severe internal injuries.
The male and two female passengers were treated for minor injuries.
"I just don't want to take the glory for it, none of us do," Jones said. "God, he put us in the right place at the right time."
The Highway Patrol says speed and alcohol were factors in the crash. The driver, Williams, is listed in critical condition at Pitt Memorial Hospital and faces DWi and reckless driving charges.
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