FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WTVF) — When a crash shuts down a major interstate, we know it can't be good.
Yesterday, I-65 in Franklin didn't reopen for three hours after a wreck in the northbound lanes.
The crash, which was all caught on a TDOT camera, sent three people from the same family to the hospital. We were relieved when we found out no one was killed.
I spoke to Erica Turner whose parents, cousin, and oldest daughter were all involved in the crash. She called the drivers who stopped to help them, heroes.
"So many people stopped immediately... People were trying to help get them out of the vehicle," said Turner. "There was one couple who had gallons of water. They were giving them water. These were just amazing people in our community."
The group was on their way to brunch on McEwen Drive when they were hit from behind by a car that police believe was speeding. After their SUV was hit, it rolled from the far right lane into the median, and collided with another car.
Turner got a notification on her phone about the crash. Both her daughter and mother had their phones set up to alert Turner in an emergency.
According to Apple, if you make a 911 call with SOS, and you have emergency contacts added, when the emergency call ends, your iPhone alerts your emergency contacts with a text. Your iPhone sends your current location, and for some time your emergency contacts receive updates when your location changes.
Turner is grateful she learned about the emergency the way she did.
She said she's most thankful for the drivers who pulled over to help her family.
"The car did catch fire. My cousin was unconscious. They had to help him regain consciousness [and] physically pull him out of the vehicle. So, all of this happened before the first responders could get there... This is just another one of those moments that just really gets to the heart of our community and who we are," Turner said.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
