Veterans help injured crash victims, in the midst of debris and wreckage on I-95 near Palm City exit

"Oh no, no, no, no, no, no!"

 

That's what Travis Singletary said, as a semi truck lost control before his eyes. It crashed into eight vehicles on I-95 near Palm City, around 8 a.m. Thursday.

 

"Debris was already flying around," said Singletary's Patrick Air Force Base co-worker, Jules Volny.

 

Singletary ordered Volny and another colleague to get out of the car.

 

"I was like, we've got to help people. We've got to help everybody," recalled Singletary.

 

"I went to the red car to make sure he was okay. He was asking for a cell phone. He was kind of disoriented," said Volny.

 

"I just didn't want anybody to be dead," said Singletary. He stumbled upon a woman trapped in her car.

 

He recalls, "She had blood coming from her head, so she was in bad shape."

 

What happened in those tense moments is under investigation, but Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Tim Frith confirms a semi truck carrying landscape rock crested the waterway near exit 102, without realizing traffic had slowed up ahead.

 

The truck is thought to have rear-ended a 2012 Honda CRV. Frith says the crash killed Howard Martin, 76, of Port St. Lucie. 

 

"Sometimes you're put in a situation where you're helpless," he said, sadly.

 

Four people were injured. Two critically. 

 

"Two more seconds, it could have been us up there," said Volny.

 

Singletary and Volny are recent veterans. They've seen bad stuff before, but nothing like this.

 

"Here they are going into Christmas, and that family member's not there," said Singletary, "so, my prayer goes out to the family. It's tough. It's tough."