SCOTTS HILL, Tenn. (WKRN) — Three people were honored in Scotts Hill earlier this week for their brave actions during a freezing water rescue last month.
According to Scotts Hill Police Chief Travis Dunavant, on Jan. 11, an elderly local couple was traveling south on Highway 114 when the man went off the road, running through signs and a fence row before driving the SUV into a pond.
Dunavant said two people who witnessed the incident — identified as Robert Guthrie Jr. and Sara Pope Hayes, both from Bath Springs — immediately stopped their vehicles and went into the pond, trying to get the couple out of the SUV.
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Guthrie and Hayes reportedly struggled to get the husband out of the vehicle because he was hung up on the steering wheel, but after freeing him, Hayes swam back to the bank and pulled him to shore while Guthrie went to the wife’s aid.
When Guthrie got to the passenger side of the vehicle, he told authorities he could only see her lips at the roof of the car, gasping for air. However, Guthrie got her out of the vehicle and placed on the hood of the car, according to the police chief.
After Dunavant arrived on scene, he said he notified dispatch there was still a person in the water and asked for a boat to be sent over. Once he assessed the situation, though, he reportedly realized he couldn’t wait for a boat and needed to get the woman to the shore because she was freezing.
Dunavant said he entered the water in an attempt to reach the wife, but when he got to the SUV, the police chief — who is 6-feet 4-inches tall — was up to his neck in cold water, which made it hard to breathe.
According to Dunavant, he and Guthrie eased the woman off the roof and into the water, with Dunavant supporting her neck and head with one hand and while supporting her waist with his other hand, and they carried her to shore. Once they reached the bank, they were helped up the hill, allowing first responders to treat them more easily.
There is no word on the condition of the elderly Scotts Hill couple following the incident. However, the police chief said the diver reported it was 38 degrees in the water that day.
Weeks later, on Monday, Feb. 5, Monte Belew — the senior advisor of U.S. Rep. David Kustoff (R-Tenn.) — came to the city hall meeting and presented Dunavant, Hayes, and Guthrie with the lifesaving awards for their heroic actions during the water rescue.
In a statement sent to News 2, Dunavant also thanked Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Smith for working and taking over the scene, as well as the other emergency responders who helped.
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