Motorcyclist credits bystanders for pulling him from fiery crash

ATLANTA - Three bystanders are being called heroes after pulling a motorcyclist from under a burning trailer.

The accident happened on Georgia Highway 101 at Bud Cole Road in Paulding County.

Gary Dillard said he doesn’t remember the crash of the five minutes leading up to it, but he has seen the pictures which is all the proof he needs. He praises God and the three bystanders who rushed to his aid, helping him to survive the fiery crash.

According to the incident report, the driver of the truck, hauling hay pulled out in front of Dillard. With no time to stop his motorcycle, Dillard wrecked, and slid under the trailer where he became stuck.

"I don't remember nothing, really," said Dillard.

He remembers waking up the following day at Atlanta Medical Center, with broken ribs, a punctured lung, broken bones.

While he may not remember anything about the crash, his sister Jessica Capra and girlfriend, Leslie Neisler, do.

Neisler said he had only been gone five minutes when she got a knock at the door.

"A guy on a four wheeler ran up to the house said ‘Don't freak out, Gary is underneath a trailer. It's on fire. They're trying to pull him out. He's stuck,’" said Neisler.

By the time she got to the scene, emergency responders had Dillard in a helicopter en route to Atlanta. His girlfriend and family rushed to get there.

"I really thought he was going to die," said Capra.

As the hours went on, Dillard's family heard more about the accident and the three men who rushed to his aid, risking their lives to save his.

"I don't know too many people who would have come up to a fire and pulled somebody out of it," said Dillard.

To those three men, his family will always be eternally grateful. And Dillard said he can't wait until he's better and can meet the men who saved his life

"Probably going to be some tears. My family has cried over and over. My family's been more in touch with the people than I have, they've talked to the people, thanked the people, but when I get out I want to thank them myself," said Dillard.

Dillard also said he wouldn't be here had it not been for the staff at Atlanta Medical Center.

Doctors said it will be 8 to 12 weeks before he walks again, but he plans on still riding motorcycles.

He said he wants people to see his story, and maybe it will remind drivers to pay more attention to motorcycles.

FOX 5 News, since talking to Dillard, has learned one of those men who helped him was an off-duty Paulding County Sheriff’s deputy.