Strangers save two women from a car that crashed into a creek

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — One of the three men who jumped into action to save two women’s lives from a submerged vehicle is sharing his story. The crash happened at a Cook Out on University City Boulevard when the driver was leaving the drive-through and her foot got stuck on the accelerator, speeding the car up and over a near 20-foot drop into a creek bed below.

Caleb Moore was ordering his food when he says he and his friends watched the car rev up, jump the curb, and drop upside down into the water. Moore says his friend instantly ran toward the car, sliding down the near vertical drop. Moore followed without hesitation, with another one of his friends close behind. Moore says the car was already filled with water by the time he and his friends got close. The car’s engine was still revving, because the driver’s foot was still stuck on the gas. Only the tires and part of the doors were above the water at the time. Moore’s friend pried open the driver side door, which Moore described as very difficult due to sand. Moore’s friend pulled out the driver, who was already unbuckled, by her arm.

The driver was in shock, but Moore says he was able to ask her if anyone else was in the car. The driver said there was another person in the passenger seat. Moore says he quickly moved to the passenger side of the vehicle where the door was already opened. He found the passenger, whose head was submerged under water. Moore could not free the second woman and says she was stuck in her seatbelt. He quickly reacted and raised the woman’s head above the water to help her breathe. While Moore helped the passenger to breathe, his two friends were able to help free her from the seatbelt and pull her out of the car.

“This woman is literally upside down, stuck, basically drowning,” Moore said. “I get her head right above the water, and it’s just like half of her face so she can breathe.”

Moore says once both women were safely out of the car, 10 of Moore’s friends made a human chain up the 20-foot cliff to pull the women to safety. EMS and rescuers arrived shortly after. “They would have came too late, so we had to act then,” Moore said.

Moore and his friends have only been in Charlotte for about a week. The group came to the City to work under Moore’s business, Panther Power Washing. He posts frequently to Instagram and TikTok under the handle @calebcleans. Moore says the group happened to be eating at the Cook Out at that time after a game of basketball. He feels his group was meant to be in the right place at the right time. “Jesus put us all there at that time, at that moment for that reason,” Moore said.

The group will be in Charlotte for the next seven months and hopes to properly meet the two women they saved before leaving. Moore says he won’t hesitate to to help someone in need again.