SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — A mother and son walked away with just a few bruises after being forced off a Shelby County road and down about a sixty-foot ravine Saturday night.
“We were coming back from the Kroger in Arlington to our home just outside Galloway,” said Shannon Whitfield. “We were coming down the road, and I see these headlights coming at a very fast rate of speed and had the thought, does he even see me? We try to get off the road, and bam!”
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Shannon Whitfield said she was driving down U.S. Highway 70/79 and was just east of Milton Wilson Boulevard when she was hit from behind.
She lost control of the small SUV she was driving, rolled it at least twice down the embankment, and landed in some trees in the opposite direction.
“It ended up on the passenger side. I was able to undo my seatbelt, and I fell on my son,” said Whitfield. “Fortunately, he’s a big guy. He was able to undo his seatbelt. He’s also tall, and he was able to reach above us and get the driver’s side door open, but there was a little tree laying on it, and it wouldn’t stay.”
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Whitfield said a couple from Arkansas came out of nowhere and got them out of the vehicle and said several other good Samaritans, including an off-duty paramedic, stopped to help.
“I thought it was wonderful. There was a lady with a box full of water handing out water to all of us, and we were right at the county line. I’m a Fayette County girl, but it just felt like it was very neighborly,” Whitfield said.
The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office responded to the crash and is looking for the other driver who fled the scene.
Whitfield said it’s possible the other motorist didn’t see her until it was too late and said everyone agrees it’s amazing that she and her son Jackson survived.
“It was very scary, and everybody, like the tow truck driver, said I never get to meet my customers at these kinds of crasheS,” said Whitfield. “Definitely must have an important purpose to be serving. I better look, huh?”
So far, the sheriff’s department has not released a description of the vehicle. If you know anything about the accident call Crime Stoppers at (901)528-CASH.