An owner-operator is being called a hero after his quick thinking and selfless actions helped save the life of an elderly woman. He has been presented awards from both the local police department and the mayor of the city.
Barry Williams, an owner-operator with New Line Transport, was on Highway 80 near the small city of Demopolis, Alabama when he saw the accident take place. Another truck had passed him on the left and was merging back in to the right lane when it clipped the back bumper of the car in front of it, sending the car spinning and careening off the road.
The car was being driven by 68-year-old Octavia Wagstaff. It went airborne, just missing the guardrail, and landed in the French Creek.
Williams pulled his truck over and ran to look over the side of the bridge into the river below.
“I remember standing there a second to see if she was going to come up,” Williams said according to the West Alabama Watchman. “When I saw she wasn’t getting out I decided it was either running back around to the other side of the bridge or jumping in. I jumped over the ledge and slid into the water.”
It’s a good thing he did, as Wagstaff’s brother claims that Williams’ decision to jump right in saved her life.
Once he was in the water however, getting Wagstaff out of the car wasn’t easy.
“It was kind of hard getting the door open because I was kind of panicking at the same time and wasn’t thinking straight,” said Williams. “As I thought about it, I grabbed the door with both hands and I used my feet to pry the car and I pulled the door open.”
But even with the door open, Williams couldn’t pull the woman free – her seatbelt was still on. Since the car was now fully underwater, Williams took a deep breath and dove under to remove her seatbelt. By the time he had it undone, another bystander was there to help him pull Wagstaff ashore.
According to police, Wagstaff had been underwater for about 15 seconds and suffered multiple injuries including two broken ribs, a broken sternum, a broken ankle and deep cuts in various areas of her body.
In recognition of his heroic actions, the city invited Williams and his family to the next city council meeting. There, the police chief gave Williams the first even Medal of Valor presented by the department. Mayor John Laney presented Williams with a key to the city.
“Today, people want to take their phones and video things, but Mr. Williams took action,” said Mayor Laney. “He is a hero. He jumped into the water, putting his own life in danger, to save another life.”
After pulling Wagstaff from the river, Williams returned to work almost right away. His wife said that he called her after the incident was over.
“He called me. I guess he was still freaked out,” she said. “He acted like it didn’t happen for a while. I guess it took a while for him to process what had happened. The biggest thing he said was, ‘I didn’t get my load. I missed my load.’”
Source: westalabamawatchman, demopolistimes
A true Hero!
Great job driver
Here is a perfect example of why seat belt use should be up to the person driving .Also the article states that she was an elderly women , well I’m older then her and I don’t use the elderly status as of yet .