Man saves same stranger twice, 8 years apart

AUBURN TOWNSHIP, Ohio (CNN/WJW) - A stranger came to the aid of a man in Ohio who was stopped on the side of the road, and then had a case of deja vu.

Saturday around 11 p.m., Christopher Manacci was driving in Auburn Township when he saw a van with a flat tire pulling a fishing boat and just creeping along the side of the road.

"I dropped my wife off and decided that I'd bring him a can of Fix-a-Flat for his tire so he could make it to a gas station," said Manacci.

Manacci said he pulled his car in behind the now-disabled van and parked on the grass with his hazard lights on and got out. He says the driver of the van and his 15-year-old son were standing outside.

"A truck that we didn't actually even see coming was moving at a very high rate of speed, and struck my car, and then the truck became airborne and crashed about three feet beyond where he was standing, him and his son," he said.

The Ohio State Patrol says the driver of the truck was drunk and was taken to the hospital. No one else was injured.

Manacci, who is a nurse practitioner, says that later on the driver of the van told him about a story that happened eight years ago when he was also helped by a stranger with the same profession.

"'Yes,' he said, 'I had a very bad injury to my hand from a very large fish hook, and this nurse practitioner kayaks up and removes the hook out of my hand and was able to let me go on with my day.' And I said, 'Yes, I know that story well.' He says, 'You do?' I said, 'Yes, it was me,'" said Manacci. "You just never know what the day brings you and you never know, you never know what small thing you are going to do that will result in a miracle."