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Man thanks emergency workers for saving his life

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – A man drove 600 miles to Indianapolis from North Carolina to thank the men and women who saved his life almost three years ago.

Norman Towell and his wife, Sherry, brought their 8-year-old granddaughter to an Indianapolis ceremony dedicated to thanking emergency response teams from that day.

On Oct. 13, 2013, Towell was driving a 53 foot semi truck on I-74 near the I-465 ramp when another vehicle cut him off.

He slammed on his brakes in an attempt to miss the traffic that was ahead of him. The semi jackknifed and hit a pickup truck.

The person in the pickup truck was not hurt, but Towell was trapped inside his semi.

It took emergency response teams from IFD and the Beech Grove Fire Department  almost two hours to cut him out of the semi.

Towell was taken to IU Health Methodist Hospital where he spent 16 days in intensive care before he was transported to a North Carolina medical facility.

He has had 30 surgeries and part of his left leg was amputated, but that didn’t stop him from walking into an IFD station to thank those who responded to the crash and saved his life.

“I said I’ve got to get up there because I want to thank them. It’s important because most of the times people just get out of a wreck or get out of a fire and they just go on about their business and they go back to the firehouse and it’s over, you know,” Towell said. “God saved me from hell and the guys saved me from death because I was bleeding terribly.”

“They saved his life. I mean, there’s no doubt about it in my mind. I’ll never doubt that these firemen right here saved his life and I can’t thank them enough,” Sherry Towell told 24-Hour News 8.

Towell has not yet returned to work as a truck driver. He is hoping to return to the career he loves.

Until then he said he will enjoy time with his wife, their seven children and their 12 grandchildren.