A FedEx driver fell 75-feet off of a bridge Wednesday while trying to help a stranded driver in Salisbury, North Carolina.
MUST SEE: This picture shows an emergency worker coming to the #rescue of a local FedEx driver who fell 75-feet off the Yadkin River bridge on I-85. I talked to the victim who SURVIVED the fall and rescue workers. See this truly amazing story at 5 & 6pm. @wsoctv pic.twitter.com/NmkfLwqR2U
— Tina Terry (@TinaTerryWSOC9) February 19, 2020
Jeremiah Cribbs was assisting a stranded driver in the fast lane when a tractor-trailer sped past them. Cribbs said he was afraid that he was going to be hit and jumped out of the way of the vehicle, but toppled over the edge of the bridge. “I was flashing my light on and off, and he was in the left lane,” Cribb said, according to WSOCTV.
“The driver of the tractor-trailer didn’t merge, and we didn’t know if he was gonna hit the car. But, I kinda had a feeling that he was, and he smashed into the car.” (RELATED: Married Police Officers Stop Robbery During Dinner Date)
Delayed: 2:34am 2/19- SFD assisted @millersferry, @RowanCountyES EMS & Rescue Squad with a rescue assignment NB I-85, Yadkin River bridge. Crews extricated a patient 75′ from the river bed sandbar. Extrication time was 45 minutes, patient transferred conscious w/ serious injuries pic.twitter.com/mEA8y5XxBW
— Salisbury NC Fire (@SalisburyNCFire) February 19, 2020
“I just thank God I’m alive,” Cribb said. “Words can’t describe it, I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.” It took rescue crews 45 minutes to rappel and rescue Cribb. “I gave him a little pinch on the leg, because the way he was laying there, looked like he may have been paralyzed from that great of a fall,” Vodochodsky said. “He felt it.”
At the scene, Cribbs was only diagnosed with some dizziness and shortness of breath. Responders were able to stand him up and get him back to the bridge before sending him to the hospital. He sustained a few broken ribs and a collapsed lung, but is otherwise fine. “To be honest, that’s entirely miraculous,” Salisbury Fire Battalion Chief Nicholas Martin said.