Madeline Mitchell: Miss Alabama USA 2011 Shares Car Crash Story on GMA

Miss Alabama USA 2011 Madeline Mitchell appeared on Good Morning America Thursday and shared a very emotional story about her brush with death and recounted how she was saved by a stranger.

Madeline Mitchell was about to compete in the Miss Alabama USA beauty pageant in 2008 when she got into a horrific car crash.

"I was on my way home and ... a deer ran out in front of me," Mitchell, then 20, said of the accident.

Mitchell lost control of her car and and plummeted 40-foot down a ravine. The car caught on fire with Mitchell and her boyfriend, both badly injured, trapped inside.

Moments after the accident, Walmart truck driver Gary Lewellen was driving by when he saw the car engulfed in flames.

Gary pulled over, used his fire extinguisher and called for help.

Mitchell spent 12 days in a coma after the accident, suffering from severe injuries. Her leg had been broken in 12 places, and doctors told Mitchell's parents that they weren't sure she'd ever walk again.

But Mitchell did walk again and is on her way to living her dream.

On Sunday, she will compete to be the next Miss USA at the Miss USA 2011 pageant in Las Vegas.

"Win or lose, I've accomplished so many things in this last year," she said, adding that she hoped to be "a great educator, teacher" who would "encourage all my students to, you know, fulfill their dreams ... and keep going with what they believe in."

Photo: missuniverse.com