Fast-acting driver rescues two after head-on collision

SALISBURY ­— Two people are hospitalized after a two-car crash on Route 41 north of Hosier Road.

According to the accident report obtained from Troop B, Benjamin Schawinsky, 85, was driving north on Route 41 when he crossed into the southbound lane, striking 77-year-old Robert Snyder’s vehicle in a head-on collision on Friday, July 12 just after 4 p.m.

Both were alone in their vehicles and taken to Sharon hospital by EMS. Cory Murphy was on his way to pick up his son from school when the collision happened.

“There was a flash of light out of the corner of my eye and then I looked through at the driver in front of me through his back windows and saw another car coming right at him,” Murphy said. “It was a huge crash.”

Murphy then pulled off the road, jumped out of his vehicle and started to assist the drivers before EMS could make it to the scene. “I checked all his windows and doors and they were all locked,” Murphy said of Snyder’s vehicle. So Murphy reached through the shattered passenger window, unlocked the car and dragged Snyder onto the bank on the side of the road.

A fire had erupted in Snyder’s vehicle just after the crash. Murphy said just after he pulled the two drivers from their cars, the fire grew and exploded. “I just did what I had to do,” Murphy said.

Murphy waited for emergency responders and state police to show up to assist and give information. “Then I went and picked my son up and got him some ice cream,” Murphy said.

Schawinsky has been transferred to an acute care facility. Snyder is still hospitalized at Sharon Hospital.