In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, a wedding rehearsal in western North Carolina took a heroic turn when guests paused to rescue a woman trapped in rising floodwaters.
The dramatic rescue from across a roaring river of debris was captured from shore in a cell phone video. Eddie Hunnell, heroic father of the groom, spoke with CNN about the frightening incident.
During a wedding rehearsal at a Grassy Creek, North Carolina inn, guests learned flooding had trapped a woman in her home nearby. Without hesitation, Eddie Hunnell borrowed a life jacket, rope and oar from the inn and hurried outside. He met Leslie Worth's husband Phil, who explained that his wife was unable to escape on her own.
Terrified the house would collapse on her in the rushing water, Hunnell and Worth attempted unsuccessfully to save Leslie by canoe, and were struggling to come up with a new plan.
Soon, a stray roof floating in the current hit the side of the Worth home and a chunk of their house detached. "Leslie was right there, standing in it, waist-deep in water," Hunnell said.
"I hopped in the canoe to try to get to her. I couldn't maneuver it well enough," Hunnell continued. "The water was too fast, and the wind was blowing too much."
"So, I jumped in and started swimming to her," he said. "I was out of ideas, and I just thought, my wife's going to kill me, and I jumped."
The footage shows Hunnell swim to Leslie through the raging waters and fighting to eventually pull her on shore to the tremendous relief of tearful onlookers.
The Worths joined the family that evening for the rehearsal dinner, in some dry pants the wedding party found for them.
The next day, after neighbors used chainsaws to clear the roadways, despite the chaos, the wedding proceeded - by candlelight, as there was no power.
"The wedding turned out great," Hunnell said. "Everything before the wedding was somewhat of a disaster."
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