Savannah mother, daughter recovering after car fire

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) -A Savannah mother and her 8-year-old daughter are continuing to recover after their car filled with smoke and caught fire Sept. 19 while driving along Truman Parkway.

Kristine Morris said she and her daughter Emilee were leaving Chuck-E-Cheese when a sound and smoke began coming from the hood of their car.

Morris said she tried to pull over but the brakes failed. She said she knew her only option was crashing to stop the car.

Emilee jumped from the car, Morris said.

“My mommy, she said, if we both in danger, do something quickly, jump out and leave me, and go get help,” Emilee said.

Bystanders helped after crash

Morris said she blacked out and woke up to find Emilee not in the backseat.

“Because can you picture you just driving down the highway, and you see a child jump out of a car?” Morris said. “So I kind of like blacked out for a minute, but when I came back to, I immediately jumped up and jumped in the backseat to get her. She wasn’t in the backseat, and that’s what really scared me.”

Morris said she was trapped in the car until a bystander helped her get out.

“If it wasn’t for that guy that came, I probably wouldn’t even be able to get out of the car,” Morris said. “Because like I said, I was trapped in the car, but he came up and helped me get out.”

Morris spoke from her daughter’s hospital room. She said Emilee had been in a coma.

“I just couldn’t see my life or my future without her, and by the grace of God, he blessed Emily to come out of the coma,” Morris said.

“But God blessed me, and he blessed Emily for us to get out the car and for us to still be with each other,” she said.

Morris said her goal is for her daughter to return to normal activities.

“She loved dancing, she loved to do TikTok, and I just want her to go back to being her regular self,” Morris said.

Morris has started a GoFundMe to help her and her daughter after they leave the hospital.