DICKSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — First responders with Tennessee City Fire Rescue described a weekend water rescue.
According to authorities, a man crashed and traveled off an Interstate 40 bridge before landing in the frigid Piney River.
Danny Tucker, chief of Tennessee Fire Rescue, described the rescue.
“We knew that we had a vehicle go in the river behind us and somebody was missing in the water,” Tucker said.
Tucker said the vehicle’s passenger broke free and flagged down help.
“She was able to make it to the bank quicker than he could and seen him get swept down,” Tucker said. “She had to climb back up the hill behind us to I-40 there to try to get somebody flagged down to get some help.”
Responders began the long search in the cold river.
“Time was definitely not on our side due to the flooding that we had going on — the swift water — and the temperature change we had overnight,” Tucker said.
The crews found the driver — disoriented, but alive.
“When I found him, I’d come across him and he was laying face-down in the water,” Tucker said. “Didn’t have much energy left at all. Hypothermia [had] already set in.”
“I was a little ways from him,” Tucker said. “I yelled ‘Are you okay?’ and all he could do was raise his head up.”
Tucker said once the driver gets better, he hopes to meet again — under better circumstances.
“I think he’s still recovering a little bit, but the father said he appreciates everything we did and God was definitely on their side that night,” Tucker said.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) has started investigating the cause of the crash.
