PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. -- A South Florida woman who was trapped in the rubble of a collapsed supermarket in Haiti after the Jan. 12 earthquake had an emotional reunion Tuesday with the firefighter who saved her life, Miami affiliate WPLG-TV reported.

Mirelle Dittmer, of Pembroke Pines, was one of thousands of people who survived the quake.

“I was enclosed between two pieces of steel,” she said.

Dittmer spent five days buried in the rubble. She said she could hardly move. The scars, blisters, scrapes and deep wounds on her legs are a constant reminder of the pain she suffered while trapped in a kneeling position.

Days after the quake, she heard voices from up above and realized the people were speaking English.

“I screamed out my lungs,” Dittmer said. “And they heard me.”

Those voices belonged to a group of South Florida firefighters who were in Haiti to help with the relief efforts. While dozens of team members worked around the crumbled supermarket, Capt. Eric Fajkis -- who is also from Pembroke Pines -- crawled through the fallen cement to find Dittmer.

“When I saw him crawling to me, I said, 'Thank you, Jesus,'" Dittmer said.

Three hours later, she was finally free.

“I don't have words to describe it. I'm so grateful and so happy," Dittmer said.

Dittmer and Fajkis hugged several times Tuesday at the hospital where she is still recovering.

Rescue crews spent 30 hours at the supermarket where Dittmer was buried and worked for three hours to get to her before she was freed.

"The joy and the satisfaction that I had when she came out of the confined space, it's doubled now," Fajkis said. "It was such a great feeling, and you know what? It will stay with me forever."