Cordell Patrick, the man ejected from a moving RV, says he's lucky to be alive ... because he thought he was going to die on that busy Los Angeles area freeway.
Cordell joined us on "TMZ Live" Wednesday from his hospital bed ... and he told us how he ended up being thrown from his RV onto the freeway.
It's pretty incredible ... Cordell says he was getting up to use the bathroom and took off his seatbelt in the 5-second window where his wife passed out behind the wheel and veered into the median.
Cordell says the impact sent him crashing through the driver-side window ... and his body flying over the median and landing on the other side of the freeway, inches away from the carpool lane.
As he lay on the freeway with his mangled ankle, Cordell says he thought he was going to be run over by a car ... telling us it's a miracle he was able to make it out of harms way.
Cordell says he and his wife had just gotten back from a trip and were heading to their storage unit when she suddenly blacked out and crashed.
She's getting medical attention too, and Cordell says they're still trying to figure out why she passed out.
Frankly, it's a miracle Cordell survived ... and he tells us why he's certain someone or something must have been watching over him.