New Hampshire

Father, Good Samaritan Describe Crash Into NH House That Seriously Injured 5-Year-Old Girl

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A young girl was seriously injured after a car crashed into her home in Salem, New Hampshire.

You can still see the path of destruction that was left Saturday afternoon on Silver Brook Road, where a speeding SUV catapulted a granite mailbox post into the home, knocking it off its foundation before the vehicle came to rest on a tree.

"The noise from when that car struck the house was horrific," said Scott Demers, who was working nearby.

"I saw the glass door just shoot across the room," said Joe Tutrone, who was in the home with his young children when he heard the impact and ran to his son and daughter playing in a front room.

"He said, 'I don't know, I don't know Daddy, the house blew up and Giuliana's dead,' and I turned around and I couldn't even see her because she was covered in so much sheet rock," said Tutrone.

Tutrone grabbed 5-year-old Giuliana, who was bleeding badly from the neck and face, and ran outside hysterical.

"The father ran out with the daughter in his arms screaming that 'He just killed my little girl,'" said Demers.

Demers was working on an irrigation system at a neighbor's home and ran over to help.

"The father put her down on the lawn and I took off my shirt and put it around her neck and there was very significant damage to her neck," said Demers.

Demers, who has no medical training, was able to keep Giuliana conscious and alert, while keeping pressure on her wound until an ambulance arrived and took her to the hospital.

She was airlifted to Tufts Medical Center in Boston, and after emergency surgery, Demers learned he had helped save her life.

"It was an emotional conversation, and he said, 'She's going to make it,' so that – that meant a lot," said Demers.

"It's all that matters," Tutrone said. "I look at all this damage to my house and I don't care, just the fact that she's alive is just amazing to me."

Thirty-seven-year-old Scott Dowd, who lives nearby, has been identified as the driver of the vehicle that caused the crash.

Salem Police say while it's still under investigation, alcohol and speed were factors in the crash, and charges are expected to be filed.

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