WEBVTT

00:10.100 --> 00:12.190
- Would you have the courage to put yourself in danger

00:12.190 --> 00:13.840
^to help someone you've never met?

00:14.170 --> 00:16.170
^That's the decision Air National Guard

00:16.170 --> 00:18.563
^Training and Education Center Instructor,

00:18.810 --> 00:21.133
Technical Sergeant Jesse Ball faced here,

00:21.540 --> 00:23.210
driving home from work last winter.

00:23.210 --> 00:25.523
- Driving down the road, business as usual,

00:25.700 --> 00:28.590
and the vehicle in front of me

00:28.880 --> 00:31.443
just starts kind of going over into the other lane.

00:31.480 --> 00:34.603
And it went out of the road, kinda went airborne,

00:34.700 --> 00:38.063
over into a pretty good sized creek that was there.

00:38.440 --> 00:40.120
- [Ssgt Swanson] Not knowing the condition of the passengers

00:40.120 --> 00:42.750
in the car, Sergeant Ball didn't hesitate to help.

00:42.750 --> 00:44.320
- I anticipated the worst,

00:44.320 --> 00:46.530
so I immediately pulled over beside the road,

00:46.530 --> 00:49.373
and I run down to the side of the creek.

00:49.640 --> 00:52.203
My initial thought was, you know, what do I do.

00:52.610 --> 00:53.810
I'm not a great swimmer.

00:53.840 --> 00:55.713
I swim about as good as a rock.

00:55.740 --> 00:58.359
I can tell that there were two individuals in the vehicle.

00:58.359 --> 01:01.010
What I would assume to be a mother and a child.

01:01.010 --> 01:03.669
The creek bank's probably three or four feet

01:03.669 --> 01:06.010
until it actually gets to the top of the water

01:06.010 --> 01:07.100
so it's just like a wall.

01:07.100 --> 01:09.183
The mother was able to get her door open,

01:09.340 --> 01:12.220
and at that point she was able to get out of the vehicle

01:12.530 --> 01:14.600
and was trying to get the child out

01:14.600 --> 01:15.580
and at that point I was like, you know,

01:15.580 --> 01:17.670
regardless of how deep the water is, whatever,

01:17.670 --> 01:18.590
I gotta get in here and help.

01:18.590 --> 01:20.810
My concern was if the car went over them

01:21.180 --> 01:22.970
and pushed them on under, they would not be able

01:22.970 --> 01:24.243
to get out of the water.

01:24.320 --> 01:26.973
I was able to get the child from the mother.

01:27.200 --> 01:29.690
- Sergeant Ball helped get the child out of the water

01:29.690 --> 01:32.113
and then used his uniform to keep them warm,

01:32.270 --> 01:35.170
before the ambulance arrived to take them to the hospital.

01:35.430 --> 01:37.733
I'm Air Force Staff Sergeant Thomas Swanson,

01:37.940 --> 01:40.053
reporting from Sevierville, Tennessee.