JEFF MARTIN, Associated Press

ATLANTA -- A man who leaped into an out-of-control Jeep as it weaved down a busy west Georgia parkway doesn't consider himself a hero after saving the driver, who had suffered a seizure.

"I don't really consider it being a hero, I just consider it being at the right place at the right time," Michael Perry told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Thursday.

The driver of the Jeep, Christopher Sanders, said he just blacked out suddenly behind the wheel.

He credits Perry with saving him from being crushed by oncoming cars as his vehicle weaved and slowed on a 65-mph thoroughfare in Columbus, a city on the state line with Alabama. Cars were whizzing past during their evening commute about 7:20 p.m. on a Thursday a week ago.

Perry said it took mere seconds to park his truck and dive into the Jeep Cherokee, which he estimates was traveling around 15 mph when he took hold of the steering wheel. He said both of his legs were hanging from the vehicle as he guided the drifting Jeep to a stop against a guardrail.

Perry said he didn't hesitate when he saw what was happening.

"I just wanted to get him to safety and then make sure he didn't die on me," he said.

The 26-year-old mechanic said he always tries to aid stranded motorists if he can. In fact, he said he was on his way to help a friend who had run out of gas when he came upon the Jeep slowing and weaving ahead of him.

Both men are residents of the Columbus suburb of Phenix City, just over the state line in Alabama. Now Perry said he's looking forward to visiting with Sanders, 27. Their families talk of holding a reunion barbecue.

Sanders said he's grateful for his good Samaritan. He said he began suffering periodic seizures about 10 years ago, but never experienced one while driving and the latest episode was unusually severe.

"It's a blessing that he was actually there and did what he did," Sanders said. "The situation could have gone dozens of different ways, but it went the best possible way."

Police Sgt. Mark Graydon told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, which first reported the daring rescue, that what happened "was unbelievable."

Perry bruised and banged up his leg after it got caught between the Jeep and the guardrail, but neither man was seriously harmed.

"Everything worked out right, and it was pretty miraculous," Graydon said.

Perry said he was late in heading out to help his friend who had run out of gas that day, but "something told me it wasn't going to hurt to be late."

He said that put him behind Sanders' Jeep at the right time when it careened down the parkway.

Sanders' wife, Wendy, told the Columbus paper after the rescue: "I do believe in guardian angels."