Many are still figuring out how to move on following the devastation of Hurricane Helene. Per PEOPLE, however, one man from North Carolina proved to be a hero worthy of writing about! Eddie Hunnell happened to be in North Carolina to celebrate his son's wedding. Staying at the River House Inn, Hunnell witnessed torrential downpours and falling trees with the inn losing power in short order.
Hunnell was in the inn's lounge when he overheard someone saying a woman was trapped in her house nearby. "I said, 'Guys, let's go. Let's see what we can do to help,'" Hunnell told the outlet. When they arrived, Hunnell spoke to Phil Worth -- the husband of the trapped Leslie Worth. Their house was surrounded by water, so they called 911.
While they waited for a rescue team, Hunnell spotted a canoe in the water. He took a life vest, an oar, and he started paddling over to Leslie. The water was moving too quickly for Hunnell to get too close to the house, though. "I didn't want the house to collapse on her because she'd surely drown," Hunnell said.
North Carolina Hero Saves A Woman During Hurricane Helene
The roof of another house crashed into Leslie's, splitting the house apart. Hunnell told Leslie to jump. She did, but Hunnell couldn't get her into the canoe because of the surrounding chaos. So, Hunnell did the most insane thing he could and jumped into the water to help Leslie. "I had told her to jump and she did. I couldn't leave her," Hunnell emphasized. "I couldn't leave her. I couldn't watch her die."
He grabbed Leslie, and holding on to the back of her life vest, he managed to direct them toward the shore. "She didn't want to have a wedding and a funeral the same day," Hunnell said about his wife when she saw the two of them alive.
And as heroes do, Hunnell capped off his heroics by inviting the couple to his son's rehearsal dinner. "There was only one thing in that house you couldn't replace — and that was Leslie. The family is overjoyed. It's causing me to tear up here. Sorry. So for that reason, of course I'm very happy I did it."
