Heartstopping moment North Carolina man jumps into surging floodwaters after spotting woman trapped in debris
A North Carolina man heroically jumped into fast-moving water to save a woman trapped in a pile of rubble.
Eddie Hunnell was captured on video performing the daring rescue after Leslie Worth was swept along the New River when her home was pulled into the water on Friday.
Hunnell was in the area celebrating his son’s wedding when the river’s waters began to rise rapidly.
Footage of the daring rescue shows him launching himself from a rowboat into the strong icy currents of the New River.
With a life jacket and rope in hand, he is quickly pulled downstream along with Worth, who can be seen wearing her own life jacket.
Footage of the daring rescue shows him launching himself from a rowboat into the strong icy currents of the New River
Hunnell was in the area celebrating his son’s wedding when the river’s waters began to rise rapidly
As onlookers run along a nearby bank to help Hunnell, he manages to intercept Worth in the water.
With his hand firmly gripping the back of her life jacket, he is seen swimming tenaciously back to shore.
The two can then be seen getting to their feet and sharing a hug as they climb up the riverbank.
Worth is seen being greeted with hugs as she pants and tries to catch her breath.
Speak with WRAL afterward, Hunnell said, “When it happened, I tried to take the calculated risk of ‘how can we save her?’.
He continued, “I grew up swimming on a swim team. I was a lifeguard and I’m in good shape, but I couldn’t watch her die. I felt like I had to do that.”
Hunnell added: ‘It didn’t even dawn on me until I lay down in bed that night and sort of had a panic attack, but I didn’t see any other option.’
Worth and her husband Phil lost all their belongings when their house collapsed into the water. A GoFundMe has since been launched to help them.
The couple was also later welcomed to the wedding rehearsal dinner as guests of the family.
After the daring rescue, Worth is greeted with hugs as she pants and tries to catch her breath as she is welcomed ashore.
Worth and her husband Phil, center and left, lost all their belongings when their house fell into the water
Homes and vehicles damaged during flash flooding from Hurricane Helene lie on the side of a road near the Swannanoa River in Swannanoa, North Carolina
People clean up in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on Tuesday, October 1, 2024 in Hot Springs, North Carolina
They are among hundreds of families left devastated by Hurricane Helene, which tore into the southeast of the country last week.
CNN has reported that the storm killed at least 137 people in the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia, and the death toll is expected to rise.
One of the hardest hit areas is the city of Asheville in North Carolina, which is located in a valley and where 40 deaths have been confirmed so far.
Rescue workers are still continuing their efforts to connect with hundreds of people cut off by washed-out roads and broken communications lines.
Images of the destruction caused by the hurricane reveal a wasteland of splintered homes, crushed cargo containers, mud-covered highways and collapsed communications lines.
Damage estimates ranged from $15 billion to more than $100 billion, insurers and forecasters said this weekend, as water systems, communications and critical transportation routes were hit.
Property damage and lost economic output will become more apparent as officials assess the destruction.