VIENNA, Ga. (WALB) – The mayor of Vienna is now being hailed a hero after rescuing a mother and her three children minutes before a train slammed into their car which was stalled on the tracks.
“I couldn’t let those babies sit there and get slaughtered by a train,” Mayor Eddie Daniels said.
Daniels was on his way to work Saturday morning when he saw the stalled black SUV on the tracks with a train fast approaching.
“I seen a lady in trouble, and I knew I had to do what I had to do,” he said.
Daniels then jumped into action and helped the mom out of the car first. When he moved to the backseat, he found three kids—a six-year-old, a three-year-old and a 1-year old—who also needed his help. That’s when the unthinkable happened.
“I got the two small ones out. At that time, I seen the train and the six-year-old, I was pulling her out and that’s when the train hit,” he said.
Daniels remembers being caught between the train and the truck but still managed to get the last child out. The smashed truck landed just a few feet away from where it was impacted.
“It knocked the truck back round that way and that’s where you see those skid marks,” Daniels said.
Even with eight stitches on his head and a broken ankle, Daniels said he’s thankful the family made it out alive.
“I’m out here just doing God’s work, that’s what we’re supposed to do. And they told me I was a hero I said I don’t feel like a hero, just feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to do, what the people elected me to do,” he said.
He said he would have never imagined this would happen during his second term as mayor but is thankful he was at the right place at the right time.
“Terrible scene but we was able to save some lives,” he said.
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