A woman driving at Shutes Branch Recreation Area ended up in Old Hickory Lake when her car went straight into the water and began sinking fast, and it was a group of fishermen nearby who got her out before the vehicle went under for good.
According to News Channel 5 Nashville, the rescue unfolded as anglers were out on the water watching a major championship bass tournament wrap up on Old Hickory Lake that weekend. Jackie Light was fishing from one boat with two companions, while John Edwards was aboard a second boat alongside Craig Allen, when they noticed the car going into the lake and sinking.
The station's report includes a conflicting detail about exactly how the rescuers got into the car. The headline on the report says fishermen rammed the vehicle and broke out its back window to reach the woman, while Edwards gave a different account, saying the car sank rapidly and that the gentleman in the other boat rammed the windshield instead. Either way, the fishermen moved fast once they reached the submerging vehicle.
Pulled Free by the Arm as the Car Went Under
Craig Allen described reaching into the car and grabbing the woman by her right arm, under her armpit, pulling her to him as the vehicle continued sinking. The woman was safely taken back to shore, and the station characterized the fishermen's quick actions as having saved her life.
John Young, watching from shore, recorded video of the rescue as it happened, capturing the moment the anglers got the woman out of the submerged car. Afterward, the vehicle remained in deep water until Hamblem's Wrecker Service was brought in to fish it out of the lake.
Investigation Into How the Car Entered the Lake
Sheriff's deputies are now investigating how the woman's vehicle ended up in the lake in the first place, per the same account from News Channel 5 Nashville. No further details on the circumstances of the crash have been released.
This is not the first time quick-thinking anglers on Old Hickory Lake have stepped in during an emergency. In a separate incident in May 2024, fishermen Austin Smith and Hunter Harris helped rescue four people after their boat capsized on the same lake, according to WKRN. All four boaters in that earlier rescue were taken to land uninjured, the outlet reported.
