A viral TikTok video captured the moment a man was rescued by firefighters after his C7 Corvette died, trapping him inside.
“They gotta bust me out of here, bro,” says TikTok user, Quan (@bigbroquan). The TikTok, which has received more than 6.2 million views by Wednesday, shows Quan sweating from the Florida heat as firefighters attempt to start his dead car.
@bigbroquan95 #lockedincar #fyp #fypシ゚viral #scarystories #firedepartment ♬ original sound – Quan
“I’m claustrophobic. I’m sweating, it’s hot, it’s like 100 degrees outside, bro,” he says.
In his desperation, he urged the firefighters to break the window.
“I thought I’m about to die. I said, ‘Break the window,’” he says. “I’m having an anxiety attack.”
“Break the window,” he says again, directly to the firefighters. “I’ll pay for the godd*mn damage.”
“All right I’m breaking glass,” the firefighter responds before he breaks the window and glass goes flying.
Many commenters felt secondhand panic for the man and were relieved when he was rescued.
“I held my breath through this entire video,” wrote one commenter.
“My claustrophobia and anxiety could never!!!! I would’ve cried and kicked the window out…” another commented.
A third shared, “I felt the air come through that window.”
Some users pointed out that Chevrolet Corvette cars have an emergency system in place for situations like this.
“You do know there is a manual lever that opens the doors?” a woman wrote. “Just look down to your left next to the seat.”
According to Consumer Reports, the emergency door release feature is equipped on the Chevrolet Corvette and the discontinued Cadillac XLR.
“If the vehicle battery is weak or disconnected, the doors can be opened manually,” reads a snippet from page 5 of the instruction manual for the 2023 Corvette. “From inside the vehicle, pull the driver’s or passenger’s door release handle (D) on the floor near each door opening.”
In 2015, a 72-year-old man named James Roger and his dog died of heat exhaustion after they became trapped in his 2007 Corvette.
According to police, a cable became loose when Rogers entered the car. This cut off the car’s power, making it impossible for Rogers to operate the horn or unlock the door.
Like Quan, he also wasn’t aware that the doors could be opened manually. His family filed a wrongful death suit against General Motors the next year.
The Daily Dot reached out to Quan via TikTok comment and Chevrolet via email.
