Driver Trapped in a Burning Wreck Begins 'Countdown' to a Terrible End, When All of a Sudden...

After he fell asleep at the wheel and barreled into the back of a big-rig in the middle of the night, Corey Keast woke up staring death in the eye.

The crash in Mira Loma, California, left his vehicle on fire — and Keast trapped inside, KCAL-TV reported.

In that moment a "terrified" Keast figured that might be it for him.

Corey Keast (Image source: KCAL-TV)

"That’s when you’re kind of just shocked and you think, 'OK, here’s the countdown. What’s going to happen? Am I going to be burned or am I going to die?” he revealed to KCAL.

Then shortly after the 3 a.m. Tuesday accident, a stranger happened upon the scene.

“He tried kicking the window and, at that point, I almost felt helpless because I thought, 'Oh my gosh, fire crews are going to roll,' but I mean, even five minutes away can be a huge degree of separation,” Keast told KCAL.

Finally, the man pulled hard enough on the driver’s door so it opened, and Keast got free.

But in the commotion that followed Keast never got the name of the Good Samaritan who potentially saved his life.

Keast's sister hit Facebook anyway while her brother was in the hospital just to thank her hero, wherever he was: “To whoever got my brother out of his burning car at 3 a.m., God bless you. I’d like to know your name. You are amazing! God is good!”

Image source: KCAL-TV

Aside from the fact that Keast is going to be OK, there's another piece of good news. Later Tuesday, the lucky driver found online the man who helped him, KCAL noted.

The man posted his own thoughts about the harrowing experience, the station added, writing that he'd never seen so much fear in one man’s eyes.

“If he wasn’t there — that whole delay — who knows what could have happened?” Keast wondered to KCAL.

DUI was not suspected in the crash, the news station reported.