Man critically injured jumping from overpass to avoid semi truck in chain-reaction crash

One man was seriously hurt after jumping off of an overpass during a chain-reaction crash in Florida on Monday. 

The accident happened on Monday morning, January 13th at about 6:40 a.m. in Gadsden County, Florida on Interstate 10. 

According to Tallahassee Democrat, a Toyota sedan lost control in rainy conditions on I-10 near mile marker 185 at the Little River Bridge Overpass. A second motorist was then unable to avoid the Toyota sedan and crashed into it with her four daughters in the car. A work truck, driven by the husband and father of the females in the second car, then pulled over and got out of his vehicle to help his family. 

The wife and children sustained only minor injuries in the crash. As the father was helping them deal with the incident, an oncoming semi truck was unable to stop in time to avoid the crash scene and plowed into the previously crashed vehicles. 

“(The) Dad who originally pulled over realized he was about to be struck by the semi tractor/ trailer, jumped over the bridge rail and fell 40 plus feet to the ground,” Florida Highway Patrol wrote in a report.

Three more vehicles then crashed into the pile up and “all vehicles came to final rest across all lanes of travel,” FHP wrote. 

Six people at the scene sustained minor injuries, while the father who jumped from the overpass had to be rescued by multiple emergency crews who ventured down the embankment to stabilize the man before utilizing heavy rescue equipment to secure the injured man “with their outstanding high angle rescue abilities.”

The man was then transported to a hospital in critical condition. No further information has been released.