JACKSON, Miss — A Woodville native is remembering the moments leading up to him springing into action in order to rescue a woman from a fiery car crash.
The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) named truck driver Anthony Blunnie, of Woodville, a 'Highway Angel' for rescuing an injured woman after a crash left her vehicle engulfed in flames, according to a news release from the TCA.
Blunnie drives for Knight Transportation, which is based out of Phoenix, Arizona.
On February 15, 2023, around 1 p.m., Blunnie was training a driver on Interstate 20 in Jackson, Mississippi, when he witnessed a van blow a tire and veer off the road, flipping and catching fire.
He had the driver trainee pull over immediately.
Blunnie jumped out of his truck, grabbed his fire extinguisher and rushed to rescue the women.
By the time he reached the driver's side door, the flames were inside the vehicle and approaching the injured woman.
Blunnie says he went to her side and tried to pull her out, but he ended up having to break all the van's widows and pull her out with the help of another person.
"If he hadn't come, I don't know what I would've done. I couldn't have gotten her out by myself," Blunnie said.
He tells 12News, his instincts just kicked in.
"Honestly, I didn't do anything I wouldn't want someone to do for my own loved ones. There was no thinking, it was just acting and take care of it."
Blunnie says the woman was a Domino's pizza delivery driver on her way to work. She sustained multiple injuries in the crash.
"Her face was all bloody, and she broke her nose. The airbag got her," Blunnie said.
Blunnie says he didn't hesitate to jump into the situation to rescue the woman.
"There was no doubt in my mind she would have died. The vehicle burned and went up in flames within a minute of the crash," Blunnie said.
Since the TCA began in August 1997, nearly 1,400 professional truck drivers have been recognized as 'Highway Angels' for exemplary kindness, courtesy, and courage displayed while on the job, according to the release.
Blunnie says the woman is married and has kids, so he's glad to have help put her family at ease.
"I spoke with her father on the phone trying to calm him down. So it's amazing that she is ok. It feels good to help someone in that manner, and save a life," Blunnie said.
