An extremely brave FedEx delivery driver survived a 75ft plunge from the side of a North Carolina bridge, walking away with just a few broken ribs.
Jeremiah Cribb, 24, spotted a driver who had stalled on the Yadkin River bridge in Salisbury, North Carolina. Leaping from his truck, Cribb rushed to assist them; switching on his hazard lights to alert oncoming vehicles and flagging down fellow motorists.
However, when Jeremiah clocked a tractor-trailer heading straight towards the stalled car, he had to get out of the way to avoid being struck. Jumping over the bridge barrier, Jeremiah assumed there’d be a grassy median on the other side. Instead, he fell 75 feet (23 metres) down onto the hard sandbar below.
MUST SEE: This picture shows an emergency worker coming to the #rescue of a local FedEx driver who fell 75-feet off the Yadkin River bridge on I-85. I talked to the victim who SURVIVED the fall and rescue workers. See this truly amazing story at 5 & 6pm. @wsoctv pic.twitter.com/NmkfLwqR2U
— Tina Terry (@TinaTerryWSOC9) February 19, 2020
The incident occurred at approximately 2.00am on Wednesday, February 19. Jeremiah believes he had blacked out after hitting the muddy ground below.
Jeremiah told the Salisbury Post:
When I realized he was going to hit the car, which he did… I just reacted. It’s pitch black dark. I was thinking I was hopping over a median. I just started free-falling.
After gaining consciousness, Jeremiah experienced dizziness and a ringing head. He then began to check himself over for any signs of broken bones or paralysis.
Jeremiah continued:
I thought I broke my back. I moved my neck. I moved my legs. I crawled to my phone to call 911 and the police were already there.
Delayed: 2:34am 2/19- SFD assisted @millersferry, @RowanCountyES EMS & Rescue Squad with a rescue assignment NB I-85, Yadkin River bridge. Crews extricated a patient 75' from the river bed sandbar. Extrication time was 45 minutes, patient transferred conscious w/ serious injuries pic.twitter.com/mEA8y5XxBW
— Salisbury NC Fire (@SalisburyNCFire) February 19, 2020
Speaking at a press conference, Salisbury firefighter Jacob Vodochodsky recalled seeing Cribb in the foetal position after rappelling down the bridge, and how he initially feared Cribb wouldn’t be able to move.
Vodochodsky said:
I gave him a little pinch on the leg because the way he was laying there looked like he may have been paralyzed from that great of a fall.
Jeremiah felt the pinch and, remarkably, was able to stand before being helped into a harness, pulled up over the bridge and taken to a waiting ambulance.
Rescuers have since expressed amazement that he was even alive at this stage, with Salisbury Fire Battalion Chief Nicholas Martin describing his survival as ‘entirely miraculous’:
We would not anticipate the outcome from such a fall would be so positive.
@SalisburyNCFire.TwitterAfter being taken to a local hospital with serious injuries, it was found Jeremiah had gotten off relatively lightly, having suffered three broken ribs and a collapsed lung.
Amazingly, Jeremiah had managed to dodge the hard roots and logs below which would have most likely killed him, with his fall thankfully broken by thick mud.
According to reports, the people in the stalled car who Jeremiah had rushed to assist – driver Kourtney Leigh Wagoner and passenger, Joseph Cornell Hart II – were uninjured.
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.