A Mississippi man has shared his incredible story of saving two people from a burning truck after a fatal crash on Highway 32 in Yalobusha County last month. William ‘Bubba’ Eubanks, an instructor at Northwest Community College, was driving to work on April 21 when he witnessed a car and pickup truck collide in front of him. The collision was severe, with the car hitting the truck broadside and bursting into flames.
Eubanks, who was about six car lengths away, immediately stopped his vehicle and ran towards the couple trapped in the truck. “I asked the man and woman if they were okay. They both answered, and I saw the kid’s feet lying at the end of the car, so I ran over and checked for a pulse, but I found nothing,” Eubanks recounted. He managed to help the older man out of the truck, but the woman was still trapped inside as the hood of the pickup began to burn.
Without hesitation, Eubanks ran back to his truck, found a tool to pry open the door, and freed the woman. “She kept saying her legs were gone. I told her it was gonna hurt and yanked her two to three times until her feet came loose. I pulled her down the embankment around 20 yards because both cars were on fire,” Eubanks said. He continued to pull her another ten yards through mud to safety.
The Mississippi Highway Patrol reported that Christian Cannimore, 22, of Clarksdale, was killed in the crash. Eubanks said the woman he rescued lost part of her right leg, broke her left ankle, and suffered broken ribs. The man is recovering from a punctured lung and two broken hands.
Eubanks, who has visited the couple since the accident and attended Cannimore’s funeral, remains in contact with the victim’s family. The Yalobusha County Sheriff’s Department publicly thanked Eubanks on Facebook for his quick and heroic actions that saved two lives. Eubanks humbly stated, “I’m not a hero. I’m just an ordinary guy who did what my parents taught me and would expect me to do.”
The sheriff’s department praised Eubanks for working furiously to rescue the couple as flames spread, not stopping until they were safe. Eubanks shared his belief that kindness and helping others doesn’t cost anything, a lesson he teaches his children and students.
