A San Diego County teen inches away from death after his car rolled off the road told NBC 7 Tuesday the whole incident feels surreal.
"It was pretty crazy," George Sinclair, 16, of El Cajon, said. "I shouldn't be here."
The student, who attends St. Augustine's High School, showed NBC 7 the rosary beads hanging from his truck's rear view mirror, the holy cards on the sun viser, the Saint Christopher medal his mother gave him for safe travel and the cross he always wears.
"I'd say my faith in God...played a huge role," he said.
The teen was just inches from being impaled Monday when he fell asleep at the wheel and rolled off the road, El Cajon officials say.
At about 2:30 p.m., the newly licensed 16-year-old was heading east in the 1100 block of Greenfield Drive when his pickup truck flipped into a wooden fence.
As the truck rolled, a fence post pierced through the windshield, the steering wheel, the air bag and the middle of the driver’s seat.
U.S. & World
The teen slid to the side of the seat, barely evading the post.
"I saw everything around me, saw the two by four under my armpit, looked up and the passenger window was open," Sinclair said. "So I took off my seat belt and rolled that down."
Sinclair said at the time, he had been studying for finals and stayed up all night. He said he learned a lesson about driving while exhausted.
"If you think you're falling asleep, pull over. Call your parents. They'll come get you," he said.
He was also reminded of a lesson he always knew.
"[I'm] just going to be more grateful for life and appreciative of everything," Sinclair said.
When he was asked if his survival was a miracle, the teen said, "definitely."
