SOUTH CAROLINA: A Columbia nurse is being hailed as a hero after he pulled a truck driver out of the wreckage of a 10 vehicle collision on Wednesday on I-26 East near St. Andrews.
On his morning commute into the hospital, Kelly Winters came upon a crash that occurred when a tanker truck carrying fuel sideswiped a Sherriff’s Deputy and another vehicle, pushing into the median. Winter’s vehicle became one of the 10 that were ultimately involved in the crash when the tanker collided with his car and caught fire.
Winters was able to escape from his car and checked on the deputy. He heard a woman’s cries for help coming from the burning tanker truck. Winters and another motorist immediately ran to the tanker to help the truck driver. Though the temperatures were so hot that their clothes were smoking, the men were able to kick the windshield and pull it away, yelling for the truck driver to crawl through. The men then grabbed her arms and ran.
She managed to escape just in time, as either the tires or the gas tank exploded in a series of four to six explosions.
Four other people were injured during the crash, but there were thankfully no fatalities. The crash delayed traffic for hours.
Waters, who has also worked as a paramedic and served as a Navy firefighter, lost his car, phone, and his wife’s engagement ring in the crash, but said that it was alright because he was alive. Of his courageous rescue, he simply said, “I would want someone to grab my wife out of the car. How could I not be there when somebody else needed it?”