News

NCDOT crew honored for dramatic rescue

Charlie Stiles, Robby Millsaps and Gary Icenhower earned the Extra Mile Award.

By David Uchiyama, Published: May 25, 2018

ROBBINSVILLE – They saw the car flip in a flash.

Then it splashed.

Gary Icenhower, Robby Millsaps and Charlie Stiles, Graham County Maintenance employees with the N.C. Department of Transportation, rescued Jack Bowman from his vehicle in the swollen Snowbird Creek in Graham County on Oct. 9, 2017.

Division 14 Engineer Brian Burch presented Icenhower, Millsaps and Stiles with the Extra Mile Award during a ceremony on Wednesday at the Graham County Maintenance Yard. They were honored for their brave and unselfish acts last fall.

“This selfless act is a testimony to the character of these men,” Burch said. “There is not greater act of service than to place yourself in harm’s way to safe the life of somebody else.

“These men displayed exceptional heroism while in the line of duty.”

They were approaching a sharp curve on N.C. 143 while driving back to the maintenance facility when a car cut them off. They saw a vehicle run off Big Snowbird Creek Road and land on its top in the river, swollen from recent heavy rains.

“It barely missed us,” Millsaps said. “It went airborne and into the creek. We got out and the car was laying upside down, under water, with just the wheels stuck up.”

Icenhower grabbed a radio and called for help. Stiles and Millsaps jumped out of their truck and into the chilly water. They didn’t know how many people were in the car. But they were determined to rescue everybody possible.

“I was worried there were young ones inside,” Stiles said. “We didn’t know.”

They heard somebody knocking from the inside. The doors wouldn’t open. They were locked. Water filled the inside of the car.

“We heard somebody inside making a racket so we knew somebody was still alive,” Millsaps said. “He had groceries and stuff and they were floating in the back.
“There was maybe a foot between the water and the floorboard that he had to breathe.”

Stiles and Millsaps shouted for Icenhower to grab something — anything — to pry open a door.

“I thought we’d have to get the chains,” Icenhower said, “and jerk his car out of the creek.”

They smashed the back right window and pulled Bowman to safety. A few minutes later, he was airlifted to Mission Hospital for treatment.

“I’m glad we got him out,” Millsaps said. “If we hadn’t been there, it would have been hard for somebody to spot that car. It wasn’t really dangerous for us. It was real dangerous for the person inside.”