JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Two passengers are dead after a fiery crash on I-220 South the evening of May 7, but the effort to save their lives won’t soon be forgotten.
One of the strangers who sprung into action to help save the driver’s life is sharing his story.
Robert Davis says he saw the car pass him on the on ramp from Medgar Evers to 220 when they fishtailed and hit a pole.
He watched as it played out in slow motion in front of him, then he jumped into action.
“I brought the driver out first, I picked her up and I took her about 20 feet away from the car, and my boss was saying Robert come on this side, someone’s on this side. I went around to that side, that female’s body was mangled, basically,” Robert Davis remembers.
Davis felt an intense heat at the back of his neck and arms as the fire started to spread throughout the car.
Still, he and four other strangers continued to battle the blaze and pull the women from inside.
“I managed to unwrap the seatbelt from around her neck, and unlatch the seatbelt from around her waist, and I drug her to safety,” Davis explained.
It was at that point he realized a man was still inside the inferno.
“A man came up and he busted the window with a hammer, I drug him out and the car was totally engulfed at that time,” he continued.
It wasn’t until hours later Davis heard the news, the male and female passengers didn’t make it, but their families called to thank him for his brave and selfless actions.
“In Mississippi we’re taught to be there for each other. There’s so much negativity about Jackson and so much negative about Mississippi, but they don’t know that this is the hospitality state, we speak, and we hug, and we love, and we share, and we reach for each other,” Davis said.
It was a tragic situation that could’ve claimed a third life had Davis not done what he did. He says it wasn’t him that saved that girl’s life, it was God.
“None of us are perfect people, but we were at the perfect place at the perfect time for God to use us,” Davis said.
Davis is no stranger to helping folks in the Capital City, he is also the founder of the Better Men Society where they help give back to the community. He uses the program to guide Jackson’s young men down the right path.
