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A Saturday evening multi-vehicle crash left five injured and one man dead in an accident involving multiple cars, a tow truck and semi.
Authorities identified the deceased man as 69-year-old Randal Hammonds.
A group of people who jumped out of their cars to help those involved do not know the names of the people they helped, but hope their actions made a difference.
“I guess in my mind, if I was in the same situation, I would hope people passing by would do the same for me,” said JP Brower, who jumped to help those involved. “Kind of a non-decision. If there was somebody that needed help up there, I was hoping with the couple other people that I saw approaching the scene, that we would be able to help them.”
After a Saturday morning spent in Columbia, Missouri, cheering on the Missouri Tigers, Brower and his family were in the right place help on the highway headed home.
“[I] noticed pretty quickly that there weren’t any responders or any lights there yet, so got a little bit concerned,” Brower said. “I got up there as quickly as I could and hopped out, started running to see if there was anyone that needed help.”
Brower’s wife recorded the final moments before first responders made it to the crash site near I-435 and Stateline Road.
Strangers are seen putting a man in the back of a truck bed after pulling him from the flames. Brower said it was a team effort.
“It was very much a part of everyone that was on that highway at that time, that night,” he said. “If it would have been 10 minutes before, or 10 minutes later, there’s a good chance I’m not involved.”
Brower said he hopes to connect with the family of the man he helped pull from the wreckage.
“Just been kind of keeping my eye on announcements and anything that comes of that to give my condolences and be there to say that we did everything we could, hopefully it helped,” he said.
There are currently no charges filed in the deadly accident.
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