Local sheriff saves family whose car crashed in his yard
BENTON COUNTY, Tenn. — A West Tennessee sheriff finds himself in the right place at the right time Tuesday morning. A family’s car flipped over right on the sheriff’s doorstep with an 8-month-old child inside.
Benton County Sheriff Kenny Christopher said he is no hero. He was just doing his job when in the middle of his morning routine, the car flipped over right in his driveway. But it was his quick actions that may have saved the lives of an entire family.
“When you’re the sheriff of a county, you expect to be out on everyone else’s property. That’s where all the excitement is at,” Sheriff Christopher said. “But we got a little jolt when we first started this morning.”
The car landed upside down against a tree. Inside was a husband and wife and an 8-month-old child they were taking care of. That is when the sheriff said he sprung into action.
“I asked her ‘do you know who you are?’ And she said yes,” Christopher said. “Then I asked if she knew who I was and where she was. She said, ‘You’re the sheriff. I believe I’m in your yard.'”
Though a bit ironic, Sheriff Christopher said it happened there for a reason.
“You don’t want to wake up to that every morning,” Christopher said. “But when we did, my wife, my son and all the first responders took care of business.”
The husband and wife were quickly rescued and the 8-month-old did not even have scratch, which Sheriff Christopher said was one of many miracles that happened with this crash.
“It’s nice to get up in the morning and know that God’s watching over us,” Sheriff Christopher said. “I sure wasn’t awake to do much till he gave me the strength to do what we did.”
Investigators said the woman driving had to be airlifted from the scene to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville but is expected to be OK. Her husband was treated and released from a local hospital.
The sheriff said the cause of the crash is still under investigation but that they believe the driver may have fallen asleep behind the wheel.
