Firefighters found the woman, aged in her 20s, conscious and breathing, and were able to reassure her as they cut her out of the wreckage on the M7 at Eastern Creek at 9.15am.

Her Toyota Yaris was mangled and shattered after the five-vehicle nose-to-tail crash near the Light Horseman Interchange in the city’s west.

Inspector Andrew Ticehurst from Fire and Rescue NSW said the car was “sandwiched between two trucks”.

A helicopter dropped medical crews onto the middle of the M7 before the truck was hoisted and balanced on bricks so the car could be pulled out, allowing firefighters to cut the woman free from the wreck.

“The driver was conscious when the fire crews first arrived, and they were able to talk to her,” Ticehurst said.

She was pulled out from what was the roof after around 90 minutes and rushed to Westmead Hospital in a stable condition.

She had only suffered injuries to her face.