Witness describes how woman saved children from burning vehicle

CROCKETT COUNTY, Tenn. — A car crash Tuesday morning leads to a heroic rescue.

Don Williams says he was drinking coffee and watching TV around 6 a.m. when he heard the aftermath of a crash outside his house on Highway 79 in Gadsden.

“The screaming and all was she was up here on the highway trying to flag traffic down, and nobody would stop and help her,” he said.

That’s when she knocked on his door and asked him to call 911.

“I dialed the number, she grabbed the phone, and said, ‘My two babies are still in the car off the road,'” he said.

A Jeep Liberty had run off the road, going down a 10-foot embankment and out of sight. When Williams went outside, he says passing drivers stopped to help. “One after one began to stop and had flashlights,” he said.

He was able to drive his car around to the front yard to shine light on the wreck.

“And the front end of the car was on fire, not a big fire, but it was burning,” he said.

Williams says the woman pulled her children from the crashed car.

“This girl is so brave. I mean, adrenaline flowing. She had to crawl back through the window to get each baby out,” he said.

He says it is amazing the kids made it out of the car without serious injuries.

“You have pictures of the vehicle. Scratches is all they got. I call that ‘Angels on Assignment,'” he said.

A man who does not want to be identified but is known as the maintenance man at Humboldt General Hospital also helped with the rescue.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol says the driver and passengers were transported to a local hospital with injuries that were not life threatening.

The investigation into the wreck is ongoing.