British racing driver Ollie Millroy has described it as a "miracle" he is alive after his rival, Dutch driver Loek Hartog, saved him from his car when it burst into flames during a China GT event at the Shanghai International Circuit.
Millroy, 36, was racing earlier this month when two cars collided with his Ferrari on a bend, sending his vehicle off the track and erupting into flames. Video footage of the incident shows Millroy's car engulfed in fire.
Hartog, 23, immediately pulled up beside the wreckage, unbuckled his seatbelt, and exited his own car to assist. He attempted to free Millroy from the burning Ferrari but was initially unable to. Hartog then procured a fire extinguisher to suppress the flames long enough to extract Millroy.
Fire crews arrived shortly after, and Hartog, along with track staff, pulled Millroy to safety. Millroy sustained several fractures and a punctured lung in the crash.
"He acted instantly and he did everything right," Millroy told BBC Sport from his hospital bed in China. "If you look at the photos and videos of the car, the fact I've got out without life-changing burns or even the fact I'm alive - it's a miracle."
Millroy recalled that Hartog was the first person to explain the incident to him in the hospital. "The two of us were just in floods of tears when he was telling me what happened and what [he] did and how different the result could have been for me," Millroy said.
In the aftermath, Millroy posted on social media, thanking Hartog for his "incredible act of bravery" and calling him his "superhero." He wrote, "I am still alive tonight, entirely thanks to one man. Loek Hartog stopped instantly with no flag marshalls or fire crews in sight, and risked his own life to get me out of the car."
Hartog described his actions as instinctive. "When I saw a car turning into a huge fireball far ahead, there wasn't really a decision to make," he stated. "From what I had seen, I genuinely believed the driver might not be able to get out by himself. I stopped, got out and went towards the car. There was never a moment of doubt."