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A North Carolina woman whose hands were crushed by her car while she was changing a flat tire used her toes to dial 911 with her cellphone, authorities in South Carolina said Sunday.

The Charlotte woman, 54, spent 35 minutes in "excruciating pain" trying to slip off a shoe and manipulate her phone, Colleton County Fire-Rescue said in a statement.

The statement, which did not identify the woman, said she blew a tire Sunday night on Interstate 95.

She pulled over on a dark section of the highway and was putting on a spare tire when the jack slipped and the car fell on her hands, the statement said.

After many attempts to dial 911 with her foot, the woman succeeded, the statement said.

Eight minutes later, first responders were able to free one of her hands using a prybar, the statement said. Firefighters used a hydraulic lift to free her other hand.

Her hands and fingers suffered severe damage, and she was taken to a trauma center at a local hospital, the statement said.