By Shannon McFarlin WENK/WTPR News Director
McKenzie, Tenn.—Two young men from Henry County rescued an elderly couple whose car had gone into the water in the swampy area between McKenzie and Trezevant in Carroll County late this afternoon.
Adam Allen and Jakob Gordon, both cousins, were on their way to Jackson on Hwy. 79 S around 5 p.m. this afternoon when the incident occurred. The weather was bad, with constant rain and water beginning to flood in the bottom area on Hwy. 79.
Adam Allen told WENK/WTPR, “It was raining hard and we looked back and saw this car just disappear. It went down into the grass and then into the water. We didn’t know if it was someone hurt, some kids, or what, so we turned around in the highway to see what happened.”
Allen said he and Gordon were friends of the two young men who were killed in the double-fatality Thursday morning in Henry County “and that’s what we were thinking about when we saw that. We didn’t want anything bad to happen to these people.”
He said both the man and woman were confused. “The water was getting about half way up when we got there and we knocked on the windows,” Allen said. “The car was teetering and we knew we had to get them out.”
The woman was driving “and she kept saying she didn’t know what happened” and the man “was confused and kept saying he was hurt pretty bad,” Allen said. “The lady said she hurt her head.”
Gordon and Allen helped the couple back up to hill to dry land and Gordon called 911. Emergency personnel, including the Tennessee Highway Patrol, began to arrive as Gordon and Allen brought the couple up the hill.
Both Gordon and Allen are 19 years old and graduates of Henry County High School.
McKenzie Fire and Rescue, Carroll County Fire and Rescue, and Carroll County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to the scene. The sheriff’s office referred all questions to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
WENK/WTPR has requested a report from the THP on the accident and we’ll report more details as they are available.
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