MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. — On May 1, Tanner Demarzo's life was changed forever. He was driving his motorcycle when a truck making a U-turn didn't stop for him.
"He didn't even stop and look," Demarzo said. "He just went right in front of me, and I had no time to brake. There was no way I could have braked in time, and there was no space for me to go around him."
In surveillance video captured by a nearby business, 19-year-old Demarzo can be seen flipping through the air several times, before crashing to the ground after the truck hit him. He was wearing his helmet at the time of the crash, with marks from the helmet indenting his forehead immediately after the incident.
The crash left Tanner with two broken legs, a broken arm, two collapsed lungs, and a brain bleed.
"99% of the time when we run these calls and transport a critical patient, we really don't know what happened to them," Madeira Beach Fire Rescue Chief Clint Belk shared.
On Wednesday, Tanner and his mom came to the fire station to personally thank the men and women who saved his life.
"But seeing the video of it, it's wow. If I didn't know that was me and I was just watching that, I'd be like, that guy's dead," Tanner said. "You know, I can't believe I survived that. It's a miracle. I mean, thanks to the work of all these people, I am still here."
For those first on the scene, it was clear this was a significant traumatic injury.
"Once on scene, the Sunstar unit called a trauma alert based on the patient's injuries," Firefighter paramedic Jo Whitfield said.
Whitfield said it's rare to get an update on a patient. It's even less common to get a personal thank you.
"It's awesome, especially to see him walking and talking when my last memory of him was him pretty much unconscious," Whitfield said.
Tanner's recovery has been rough. He had to relearn how to walk. His arms and legs are covered in scars from the crash and the surgeries that followed. Despite that, he's simply grateful to have the chance to see another day.
"I heard they don't, nobody comes to thank them," Tanner said. "I'm like, I can't believe that. These guys are heroes, all of them. I would, what they do on a daily basis for their job is heroes."
Malique Rankin is an Emmy award-winning general assignment reporter with 10 Tampa Bay. You can email her story ideas at mrankin@10tampabay.com and follow her Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.