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The driver of the vehicle, Brittany Stack, was not injured during the crash.

(MLive File Photo)

FRUITPORT TOWNSHIP, MI – Brittany Stack remembers seeing a man "barreling down the hill" to rescue her from an overturned vehicle Wednesday morning in a water-filled ditch.

Now she fears she won't get a chance to thank the mystery man who left the scene before police had arrived, she said.

“I kind of wish we would have known who he was,” said the 21-year-old Fruitport woman. “I just want to thank him for caring for me over his own life. He was up to his chest in ditch water.”

The incident occurred on icy roads in Fruitport Township Wednesday morning, Jan. 29.

Stack was driving in the area of South Dangl and Ellis roads around 9:30 a.m., trying to get to her class at Muskegon Community College.

Stack said she lost control of her Dodge Caliber when she drove over an “icy patch” and the vehicle rolled.

“I was only going about 25 mph and hit an ice patch or something. I did a ‘360’ and stopped at the edge of the road and the car paused for a moment. Then it just tilted and started sliding down and rolled,” she said.

“The door had cracked open just a smidge and the water was trickling in a little bit. I had to push myself up with my hands and unclick my seat belt,” Stack said.

Stack was upside down in the vehicle when she heard people standing outside her vehicle.

“I heard people outside,” she said.

“There was this guy who came barreling down the hill. He was up to his chest in water. He was asking if I was OK and if a bunch of water was coming in. He was trying to get the car open and he and another guy grabbed a shovel and they were digging out the passenger’s side rear door. They got it open and helped me out.”

Stack said she is grateful he went to such lengths to save her.

“He was sort of buried in the snow, too. He unburied the door from the back and it opened up. I just crawled out. They helped me out of the car and helped me get across the ditch,” she said.

“After that, one of my friends from high school was there and let me sit in her car until the cops came. I took my shoes off so my feet could get warm.”

The vehicle is likely totaled, she said. Stack was not injured in the crash.

"I think I'll be sore tomorrow," she said.

Authorities said roads remain icy today and motorists should travel with caution.