3 come to rescue of fellow man

Gayla Smith and Cynthia Stewart had no idea that anything was wrong on the morning of June 12.

They had just arrived at Regions Bank for work and were walking to the door until they saw some commotion behind the bushes in front of the business.

When they heard Hartselle Utilities worker Luke Smith call out for help, their plans quickly changed.

“We literally dropped everything and ran to go help,” said Gayla Smith, a teller at Regions.

That quick action by all three helped save the life of a man who had been trapped underwater by a riding lawnmower.

“I tell Luke that he’s my hero and he’s really the one that deserves the credit,” Stewart said. “All we did was try to help him and get more help.”

It didn’t matter that the women were dressed in business attire for work that day. They knew they had to help.

“Gayla literally jumped in the creek there to help,” Stewart said. “We all three helped Luke lift it up enough so he could get a breath until more help arrived.”

“I didn’t realize that creek was so deep until we went back out there,” Gayla said. “He was literally trapped underwater.”

 

The two women also enlisted the help of other bystanders and customers who were on the scene. They were able to lift the lawnmower off of the victim.

“He was OK other than just being covered in mud,” Gayla said. “He didn’t even have to go to the hospital. It’s just a miracle.”

Because of getting in the creek, Gayla and Stewart may have ruined their work clothes that day.

“Gayla was actually covered in mud after getting in the creek,” Stewart said. “After it was over, I didn’t realize just how far down he fell. It was probably about 12 feet, but it only felt like it was just a couple of feet down.”

However, the three were just glad that they could do their part to save a life.

“If Hartselle Utilities didn’t happen to be there that morning, no one would have seen him. You couldn’t have seen it from the road,” Stewart said. “That man could have died if it wasn’t for Luke seeing it happen.”

At a Glance

PowerGrid Services in Hartselle evacuated for bomb threat

Morgan County

20 under 40: Trey Chowning

Falkville

20 under 40: TJ Holmes

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Spencer Bell

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Shelby Keenum

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Rachel Howard

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Mary Virgina Halbrooks

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Maggie McKelvey

Decatur

20 under 40: Maegan Jones

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Lindsey Tapscott

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

‘He lets us have sex’: More details emerge on Hartselle man accused of child exploitation 

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

Hartselle church creates Easter-themed escape rooms 

Danville

Family tradition: State livestock show legacy spans generations

Editor's picks

Baseball for Beau: More than $8k raised for scholarship named after Hartselle child  

Falkville

20 under 40: Lela Weeks

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Kalleigh Thomas

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Jaime Hatcher

Hartselle

Veteran Hartselle firefighter charged with possessing child porn

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

Cerrowire expansion named finalist in Business Alabama Awards  

At a Glance

Work begins on repairing two bridges over I-65 in Morgan County in coming weeks

At a Glance

Tickets for Morgan County Sports Hall of Fame banquet available

Falkville

Morgan County volunteers celebrated at annual fire department banquet 

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

Man jailed for stealing car from jail after earlier release 

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

Police: Hartselle man encouraged children to have sex inside his apartment

x