BARBOURSVILLE, WV (LOOTPRESS) – An elderly couple from Cabell County, may very well be alive today due to the heroic efforts of a man who happened on the scene.
An 88-year-old driver and his wife were traveling on Heath Creek Road Sunday night just south of Barboursville when the truck they were driving went off the road and rolled multiple times down a steep hill. The driver, Jim O’Lynn, says a man who came down the hill to render aid was “Johnny-on-the-spot”.
Nate Smallridge, 38 of Ona, was driving home from church with his 8-year-old son and was one of the first on the scene of the wreck. After grabbing a flashlight, Smallridge slid about 50 feet down the embankment where the O’Lynn’s truck was stopped by a tree. After assessing the situation, he was able to help Jim out and to safety while another man stayed with him. O’Lynn’s wife, 87-year-old Marcella, was in a more difficult position to reach. While trying to talk with her, Smallridge realized that the exhaust from the truck had sparked a fire with the leaves under the vehicle. Smallridge was quick to stomp out the fire.
WV State Police, Barboursville Police, and Cabell County EMS then arrived at the scene. Nate and the other man assisted emergency responders in getting Jim on a stretcher and then up the hill to an ambulance. Emergency personnel eventually used a winch system to get Marcella out of the truck and up the hill with assistance from Smallridge and others.
Nate Smallridge says he’s not hero, but just a normal person doing the right thing.
“I went to church and God just puts people in the right situation.”
Jim’s nephew, Rick Tanner, was grateful for Nate’s fast-acting effort. “God had him in the right place at the right time. God used him.”
Tanner says his uncle was treated and released while his aunt is still in the hospital with two broken bones in her back.
Ironically, this is not the first time Smallridge, husband, father of three children, has helped save a life. In 2014, he and a neighbor helped a man escape from a brush fire caused by his ATV accident.
Saving lives is not all Smallridge does. The morning after the wreck, he passed a test to earn his CDL license and looks to begin a new career as a truck driver.