The lone survivor of a fatal crash in Macon County recounted the moments before and after impact with an out-of-control tractor-trailer.
Jay Scruggs suffered a broken vertebrae and fractured kneecap, but three other people died in the crash.
An out-of-control tractor-trailer plowed into his car, and Scruggs credited a guardian angel for keeping him alive.
The crash happened on Highway 52 in Macon county this past weekend.
"It was really scary considering I lost one son on this road," said his mother Bonita Scruggs.
She said she couldn't bear to lose another. Her son Jay said someone was watching over him.
"I blacked out and the only thing I saw was my brother. He told me to get out. Get out. You believe you had a guardian angel. Yes, my brother," said Jay Scruggs.
He was driving westbound on 52 in the rain when an eastbound tractor trailer suddenly jackknifed drifting into his lane.
Seconds later, Scruggs witnessed the deaths of the driver and passenger in a pick-up just ahead of him when they collided first with the big rig.
"Soon as I saw the top come off the truck I said oh God, what do I do now? I whipped the wheel and hit the back bumper," said Scruggs.
His pickup slid to the shoulder. The big rig ended up in a ravine. The driver died. Three lives gone in an instant.
Scruggs' mother said something must be done - more caution signs, extra lighting, maybe repaving to address pooling water.
"Probably more wrecks and more lives [will be] taken," said Bonita Scruggs.
This was just the latest wreck along the stretch of highway 52. The second incident for this family.
They hoped to reach out to the state and lawmakers to see if anything can be done to make it safer.
The three people who died in the wreck were the big rig driver 41-year-old Chris Brady of Moss, Tennessee, and the two in the pick-up were 46-year-old Jeffrey Van Overberge and 25-year-old Justin Spears of Westmoreland.
