Jacksonville, FL : Man critically injured in Beauclerc Road crash on Friday morning, October 21, 2016

A driver suffered critical injuries Friday morning when his car ran off Beauclerc Road and hit two palm trees, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said.

The driver, whose name has not been released, was taken to Orange Park Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.

Bystander Dr. Paul Shirley, who was one of the first people to arrive after the crash, said he was surprised the driver survived because the car was so mangled.

“The fact that he was alive at all at the time we got to him is amazing to me," Shirley said.

The crash was reported just after 5 a.m. at Beauclerc Road and Pickwick Drive, near San Jose Boulevard.

Beauclerc Road was shut down as police investigated, but has since reopened.

Police said the man's black BMW ran off the side of the road for unknown reasons and slammed into a pair of palm trees.

Shirley said that when he got to the car, the driver wasn't wearing a seat belt, and firefighters had to pull the driver out.

“I got a bat from one person, pulled the door open, there was a pulse,” Shirley said. “I stayed there with him until the extraction folks got here and were able to get him out. He was not coherent. And I prayed for him.”

Shirley described what he saw when he came out to see what happened.

“There was paperwork on the floor, next to his leg. I pulled it out, and it had one of my friend’s daughter's name on the registration,” Shirley said. “And so, I immediately asked them to start looking through the woods to make sure she wasn’t a passenger.”

The driver was the only person in the car, police said.

Source :
Police: Man critically injured in Beauclerc Road crash