A Nova Scotia man who was injured in a bizarre accident involving two horses says the two men who saved his nephew’s life are heroes.

Wade Smith says he still can’t believe what took place on Highway 104, near Masstown, Saturday morning.

He says he and his nephew were on their way to work around 5:45 a.m. when their SUV struck and killed two stray horses on the highway, forcing the vehicle off the road and into a ditch.

“I just heard one big ‘boom!’ I never seen nothing” he says.

Smith, who was in the passenger seat, had to crawl over his nephew and out the smashed driver’s window. He says his nephew, Dylan McMullen, was unresponsive and he tried several times to move him.

“This time when I reached in I grabbed him by the belt buckle and I got him out the door a little ways and then I seen lights on the Trans-Canada coming, and they were getting closer, so I said ‘I gotta get help’ so I ran up and it was a dump truck,” explains Smith.

The driver of the dump truck says he will never forget the image of a bloodied man trying to catch his attention from the side of the highway.

“A gentleman flailing his arms and blood coming off his face. Yeah, he was in distress,” says David Grandy.

A third person stopped to help and, together, they were able to remove McMullen from the vehicle and drag him to safety.

Seconds later, the vehicle exploded.

“Yeah, I was really scared,” says Smith. “I was scared I wasn’t going to be able to get him away from…I figured it would probably get on fire after a while, but I didn’t know if I was going to get him out of there by myself.”

“It’s just like it happened to somebody else,” says Grandy. “Everything happened so fast. I was just glad that we could, we were there at the right time.”

Smith suffered a few cuts and bruises and his nephew is recovering in a Halifax hospital. He says his nephew’s recovery appears to be going well and he may be able to sit up and leave his bed soon.

Meanwhile, Smith wants to personally thank the men who rescued his nephew.

Grandy lives in the area but Smith believes the other motorist may be in Newfoundland, as he had mentioned he was going there to see his son who had been in an industrial accident.

“I’d give him a big hug. I’d...shake the man’s hand and give him a big hug. Thank you sir, wherever you are.”

With files from CTV Atlantic's Dan MacIntosh