Woman Gets New Home Thanks to Man She Rescued (Exclusive)

• Bryan Pederson was driving on May 16 when a tree fell and crushed his SUV — then Veronica Marin came to the rescue and pulled him out, before immediately returning to her car, where her three kids were waiting
• Moved by her generosity, and wanting to do something in return, Pederson launched a GoFundMe to help repair her home, but it was eventually decided that she needed a new home instead. Thankfully, the GoFundMe “blew up” and on Friday, Sept. 27, Marin’s new mobile home was delivered
• “I’m so very happy,” Marin tells PEOPLE, as Pederson adds that after everything that’s happened, he has a “new faith in humanity”

A single mother of three who saved a stranger when a tree fell on his SUV four months ago has been rewarded in a huge way for her good deed. 

Thanks to a GoFundMe started by Bryan Pederson, the man she rescued, Veronica Marin, 26, of Tomball, Texas, received a new mobile house on Friday, Sept. 27, which replaced her previous home that needed serious repairs. 

She tells PEOPLE that the entire experience feels like a dream. “I’m so very happy because it’s incredible,” Marin says about her new home. “Also I’m very happy for my kids.”

The story began on May 16 when Pederson, 48, was “driving through what seemed to be another Houston storm.” But, he says, “it turned out it was a little worse than that.”

He was waiting for the light to change and talking to his wife on the phone when an oak tree fell on his SUV, crushing him inside. Fortunately for him, Marin and another good Samaritan, Travis Lennon, 48, arrived to help. 

“I thought that was the end,” Pederson says, “until I saw these two at the window of the passenger side of my vehicle, they were able to pry the door open.”

“Nobody had to stop,” he adds. “I mean, it looked pretty terrible from the outside. 

At the time, Marin was heading home after work with her three kids when she saw the tree fall on Pederson’s SUV. “I was scared,” Marin, who speaks Spanish, says via a translator, “[but] reacted immediately.”

Marin remembers how Pederson looked when she encountered him. “His face looked very scared and shocked,” she says, but, she adds, “His face changed when saw me.”

“She first asked if I had kids in the back, which I didn’t, thankfully,” recalls Pederson. “But she said, ‘You’re getting out.’ ”

Lennon says that he and Marin managed to get Pederson out of the vehicle in about 5 minutes.  “I went to grab a tire iron [from my truck] because I thought we were going to have the bust center console out to help make more room to drag him out,” Lennon says. “But she had him twisted all around and head pointing out the passenger door and a couple tugs, he was out.”

After the rescue, Marin immediately drove off and continued on her way home because her kids were complaining about being hungry. 

“She pulled me out and she disappeared,” says Pederson. “She never even waited for a thank you or anything. She just did it out of the goodness of her heart.”

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Pederson, who miraculously wasn’t seriously injured, stayed in Lennon’s truck until emergency responders arrived. “I didn’t even know what to do at that point,” he says. “Like I said, I was in shock. I was like, ‘Who’s that other woman?’ ”

He later tracked down Marin via Facebook, and the two had a reunion at a fire station four days after the incident, where he learned that the single mom, who works two jobs while raising her three children, suffered a back injury in December.

“We could tell that there was somebody that we could help,” says Pederson. “Veronica worked so hard. My wife said, ‘You saved my husband’s life. What can we do for you?’ So we started off with, ‘Let’s get you some groceries, let’s get the kids taken care of.’ We said, ‘We want to do something for you.’ And we just didn’t know what that was yet.”

Marin invited Pederson to her home, and upon seeing the state it was in, Pederson decided to start a GoFundMe to pay for repairs. But given the extensive repair work needed, it was eventually decided that the best course of action was for Marin to get a completely brand new mobile home.

Fortunately, as their story spread, the GoFundMe “blew up,” says Pederson.

“I mean, I couldn’t believe it,” he says, adding that by the time the online fundraiser reached the $50,000 mark, Veronica told him, “‘Bryan, it’s too much. Make them stop.’ ”

Instead, the money kept on rolling in and as of Sept. 28, they’ve raised over $66,000.

Ready to take the next step, Pederson reached out to Braustin Homes, a San Antonio-based company, to get the new mobile home, which has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and appliances.

 “I was just moved by the heroism of Veronica,” Jason Piña, who co-founded Braustin Homes with his brother, tells PEOPLE. “But more importantly, by Brian and the rest of the community coming together and raising $66,000 to get this incredible woman a home.”

“I really wanted to kind of take it under my wing and made sure we weren’t profited in any way,” adds Piña. “And at the end of all this, we just get to see Veronica smile and Brian’s dream of making this all happen come about. So we just did everything at cost.” 

Pederson, who plans to close the GoFundMe on Monday, Sept. 30, tells PEOPLE that all remaining funds will also go to Marin.

Pederson, Lennon and Piña were all present for the delivery of Marin’s new mobile home on Sept. 27. After she gets settled, Marin plans to hold a big barbecue party to celebrate.

“It’s amazing,” Lennon says. “People came together for something to help her out, so she deserved it, and their family gets a fresh start on something. I would hope Veronica would be there if I’m ever trapped like that, or my kids get in an accident.”

Pederson acknowledges the experience has been life changing for him as well. He adds, “I’ve got this new faith in humanity, and it’s just amazing to witness and be a part of it.”