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Crash Scene Tests Tutt’s Emergency Reflexes
07/26/2016
An Entergy Arkansas employee’s cool head and quick action almost certainly made the difference between life and a fiery death for Leagh Ecklund the morning of July 8. “I’m just glad I could be there to help,” said Transmission Relay Technician John Tutt.
Traveling with his four children, Tutt said it just happened that they were having a discussion about vehicle safety as they were driving north on Hot Springs’ Central Avenue. During Entergy training, had learned to keep an eye on what’s happening far ahead. And as he did, he saw maybe 80 yards in front of him a scene he’d not soon forget. As he rounded a bend by Fisherman’s Wharf restaurant his eyes were drawn to a two-car collision that had happened just seconds before.
Immediately after spotting the carnage, another safe-driving principle came to mind. Tutt checked his mirrors to make sure there was a buffer between him and the car behind him before slowing down to help. Apparently a Hyundai Sonata had crossed the center line and the other vehicle veered right to avoid a head-on collision, taking the hit on the driver-side door instead. As Tutt approached, the Sonata was on the road with one elderly woman injured inside. Off the road and upside down was a 2014 Camaro with one person, Ecklund, age 41, still inside.
After parking safely and telling his children to stay in the car, Tutt headed for the Camaro. Another man who had stopped to help yelled to Ecklund, “Just be still. I’ve already called 911. Don’t try to get out.” But Tutt, seeing smoke coming from the engine area, didn’t think they had the luxury of waiting on the professionals.
Remembering his Entergy first aid training, Tutt talked with Ecklund through the broken window in the passenger’s door, offering reassurance that he was going to take care of her. Although “she was upside down and backwards,” Tutt recalled, he determined that she was responsive and didn’t appear to be seriously hurt. Then, fearing the smoke would soon become flames, it was time to get her out of there.
Tutt tried to open the door, but it was jammed. He then put a foot on the car and put his full body into the task and the door gave way. Then he noticed she was barefoot. So he took off his flip-flops and told her, “Put these on.” That left him barefoot, but he knew he could navigate his way around the broken glass better than she could.
He eased Ecklund through the open door and helped her to a safe place off the road and away from her car. Then, seconds after getting clear of the Camaro, as if on cue in a Hollywood script, the interior went up in flames.
Looking back on the event a couple of weeks later, Tutt said it was just a case of right place, right time. But he was thankful for his Entergy driving training and first aid training, both of which came in handy when he had to think fast and take action.
Also thankful are Ecklund and her husband. Tutt was gone before she got his name, but Hot Springs is a small town. She tracked him down through Facebook two days later and, with her husband, called to thank him for saving her life. She said she kept asking people at the scene, “Where’s that guy?” Most said, “What guy? There was no guy.” Ecklund’s memory of the crash scene was hazy, but she insisted: “Yes, there’s a guy because he let me wear his flip-flops.”
The photo of the crash scene was shot by Jody Johannsen Ray and used with permission. She happens to be a friend of Tutt and his wife, but didn't know when shooting the picture that he was involved. The other photo is Tutt in his office.
