Mother, infant pulled from flaming vehicle
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Amanda Anderson, 22, of Morrison was pulled from the SUV moments before it was engulfed by flames. Her infant daughter, Trinity Shepherd, was removed from the vehicle moments earlier.
Viola Highway residents Glynn Beaty and Charles Gann are being praised as heroes for saving two lives. Another Viola Highway resident who played a vital role in the rescue declined to give his name, saying he doesn?t want any recognition.
?Another two minutes and she never would have made it,? said Gann while standing at the crash site on the corner of his property.
?I?ve never seen a car burn like that,? added Beaty, who lives across the road. ?It was really flaming, I mean tall flames over your head. The inside burnt completely up. We just got her out before the fire got her. There is no way she would have gotten out by herself.?
State trooper Gary Myers worked the wreck and indicated Anderson admitted drinking prior to the accident. Her blood is being analyzed to see if she was under the influence.
The wreck happened around 6:30 p.m. Monday near the Viola Highway-Lawson Mill Road intersection that is closest to Viola. Anderson was traveling toward McMinnville when she lost control and flipped several times end over end, according to eyewitness reports. The SUV came to rest against a utility pole.
According to a driver heading in the other direction, Anderson?s SUV crossed the yellow line and entered his lane. When Anderson realized what had happened, she overcorrected and braked simultaneously, which triggered the violent series of flips.
Anderson was wearing a seatbelt and her daughter was properly restrained in a child safety seat.
?I had to take a knife and cut the seatbelt to get her out,? said Beaty referring to Anderson. ?She was so tangled up and it was so tight, there was no way we could get it off.?
Once the seatbelt was cut it took all three men to pull her from the flames.
?The way the fire was going, I thought it was going to explode,? said Gann. ?It was hot but I didn?t get burned. I got a lot of blood on my clothes because she was bleeding pretty bad. Her leg was cut all the way to the bone.?
Anderson was airlifted to Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga with a badly broken leg. Her daughter was treated at River Park.
Beaty admitted he put his life on the line by sprinting toward a blazing vehicle. Still, he didn?t want to accept the hero label.
?I?m no hero,? said Beaty. ?I?ll try to help anybody out if I can because I?d sure want somebody to help me.?
Both Beaty and Gann say it?s not the first time they have helped to save people in a wreck ? with Gann pulling two people from a burning car around 22 years ago.
?It was on this same road about a mile from here,? said Gann. ?It was a mother and her daughter that time too and their car was burning.?
Beaty said he helped free a man trapped in his truck when he was out coon hunting one night.