Alijah Arenas opens up on scary details from car accident, waking up in fire

Alijah Arenas woke up one April afternoon in a smoke-filled car, disoriented after his Tesla Cybertruck crashed into a tree. Still struggling to put the pieces of how he got there, he quickly realized he was in a fight for his life.

At first, Arenas thought he would be able to open the door to the car and get out to safety. But once the realization that he was locked inside set in, so did the panic.

“When I saw that, I realized what situation I was in,” the incoming USC freshman said in his first comments about the crash. “My first instinct was to take off my seatbelt. I got in the backseat to see what I could do. …I start kind of panicking just rushing to get out.”

Arenas explained that the day had started like any other. He had just wrapped up a practice session at the gym, proud of himself for reaching his goal to get 10,000 shots up that week.

From there he his plan was to grab lunch, go home and go to school. But on the way back to his house, the car began to malfunction in ways that caused Arenas to grow slightly concerned, though he didn’t think too much of it at the time.

“The keypad starting to turn off, flickering on and off,” he said. “The lights going off without me even doing anything. I’m not worried about it too much. But when I noticed something is when I had come to a stop at the first or second light of me leaving.

“…Then I noticed the wheel wasn’t responding like I wasn’t in the car. When I was at that red light, when I was moving forward I was in the front left lane and I was getting over to the right. I noticed the wheel wasn’t moving as easy as it should. And me noticing that the keypad wasn’t on, those kind of just weirded me out.”

Alijah Arenas went on to explain that after, the car changed lanes without him realizing and the wheel seemed to completely lock up. He sped up in attempt to eventually change lanes again and pull over, but then his car wouldn’t brake.

“I’m trying to get in to turn into a neighborhood and when I’m turning and I’m speeding up to turn, I can’t stop,” he said. “Next thing you know, all I remember is feeling pressure. I remember a light passing me and I look and I see it’s a car going by. I look back in front of me. I’m on my way to a curb. I get on the curb and all I can remember is just pressure. I wake up in the car after about like three minutes.”

At this point, Arenas is understandably shaken and confused. He heard what he described as “cracking noises like a camp fire,” and quickly realized that it was coming from his dashboard, which had caught fire.

Arenas immediately leapt into the back seat and tried to figure out how he was going to get out of the car. But his surroundings made it incredibly difficult. The smoke from the car not only was causing him difficulty seeing, but more importantly, breathing.

He was in and out of consciousness almost the entire time, fighting to stay awake long enough to figure out a solution. He punched and kicked the windows in attempt to break them.

Yet as hard as he tried, the bulletproof glass was not giving in. Arenas explained that at one point he even caught on fire himself, having to douse himself with water he bought at a gas station.

“I’m panicking, I’m scared,” he said. “I didn’t really think to use my phone. I didn’t think of calling nobody. Cause the situation I was in, I didn’t think I had enough time. So I was kind of trying to fight time the whole time in the car.”

The realization set in that he likely wasn’t going to get out of the car without help from someone on the outside. Arenas began banging even more on the windows and screaming as much as he was able to. He tried to honk the car horn but no sound came out.

After several more moments of trying to break the windows to no avail, Arenas hears what he believes to be sirens and banging from another person on the outside of the car. This gave him hope to keep fighting and belief that it was possible for him to get out.

“It kind of brought me a sense of urgency to just keep going until the end,” he said. “For me it wasn’t a I could live or die situation. I didn’t know what it was. This is the first time I had really thought to myself, ‘I don’t know what’s gonna happen in the next couple minutes.'”

Arenas was still kicking the window as others applied pressure from the outside. Eventually, he heard a pop as those working on the outside were able to successfully remove the window.

Once they could get inside, they quickly got Alijah Arenas out of the vehicle. After what seemed like an eternity trapped inside an inferno, the cool air of outside hit him as he was finally free.

“All I remember is hitting the floor and feeling the sensation of just cooling my body down,” he said. “I felt like I was at a river because there was so much water. Next thing I remember looking at a ceiling full of lights and somebody holding my arm. I think that was the first hospital. The next one, I remember I woke up and I just couldn’t speak. I just remember being able to write and that’s how I kind of communicated.”

It was a while before Arenas regained his full strength, as he was put in an induced coma due to the smoke inhalation. He eventually began speaking and walking on his own. He remembers the feeling of relief upon waking up, not only that he was OK, but that no others were injured in the accident.

The past few months have given him a lot of time to reflect on all that he has to be appreciative of. Mostly, Arenas was struck with an immense feeling of gratitude toward the good Samaritans who stepped in to save him.

“It taught me a lot,” he said. “I appreciate a lot. I appreciate more than what I thought I appreciated. I’m appreciative for somebody just randomly helping me. My other thought process was thinking, ‘If I were to drive past something like that’ — because everybody has seen either an accident after or before or something — it just got me to think about, ‘What would I have done on the outside?’

“There are amazing people in this world that are willing to help and risk their own bodies for you. So for me it was, I don’t wanna ever really think about me ever again. It’s always about somebody else. So community is a really big thing for me.”

Alijah Arenas, the son of former NBA star Gilbert Arenas, is set to play his true freshman season at USC in 2025-26. He is a five-star prospect who ranks as the No. 12 overall player in the class according to the On3 Industry Ranking, so has high expectations.

The guard certainly couldn’t have imagined having to overcome something like this right before starting his college career. But he is appreciated of the support he has received along the way. From people in his neighborhoods wishing him well to receiving flowers in the hospital, the love he felt is one positive he can take from an overall negative situation.

He now hopes to be an example for others who may be going through similar situations or hard times in their lives. Arenas urged anyone who needs to talk to reach out to him, showing that his is already stronger from having gone through it.

“I came back to a great community,” he said. “Flowers all over the place. My dad explained it. He was like, ‘You don’t really see flowers. This is amazing. You’ve gotta appreciate a lot.’ Then just me trying to get back into it, I start walking in the neighborhood and back to the house. Smiles on smiles on smiles. So for me, it was amazing. …My whole community was just honking horns, just glad I’m OK.

“So I wouldn’t pray that on anybody. I hope that everybody drives safe, stays safe. There’s people out there that have maybe even a worse experience or the same experience as me. So I’m open to talk about anything. I’m willing to talk to somebody. I know somebody else, even from that situation, has something way harder going on. I can never really think about myself. That is a memory for me to help somebody else. I’m still here to help somebody else.”