LONGVIEW, Wash. - Samantha Chagnon had a bad feeling even before she started driving south on Interstate 5 from the Kelso exit Thursday morning.

Not even five minutes into her trip, the 22-year-old hit a ladder in the road at milepost 38, causing her to lose control of her 1991 Honda Accord and roll it into the median.

"It just like came out of nowhere," she said about the ladder. "I really thought I was going to die." (She is pictured below.)

Sal Corona saw the car flipping through the air about 9:30 a.m. He didn't know how bad the crash was until he saw Chagnon and her car up close.

"She was bleeding, her face was smashed, the whole side of her face was smashed, her whole shoulder, her whole left side was broken," he said.

He wondered why no one was helping her. With the car smoking, Corona and his friend rushed in.

"I ran up, unbuckled her seatbelt and grabbed her and started pulling her out of the car," he said.

"The next thing I remember is being out in the grass and having these two guys tell me to stay calm and that an ambulance will be there," she said.

Even though Chagnon faces the pain of surgeries on her jaw and elbow, she is grateful Corona was not afraid to stop and help her.

The big unknown is where the ladder came from.

She only saw it in the road when it was too late.

In Washington, it is against the law not to secure loads properly.

If you saw a vehicle drop that ladder, call police.