Sonoraville High School football player saves 2 from fiery wreck

GORDON COUNTY, Ga. - A Sonoraville High School football player helped save two men from a fiery Gordon County wreck. Paramedics say the student-athlete pulled the men from two mangled cars.

Most high school heroes are known for something they did on a field or in a gymnasium, but Cayman Reynolds' real-life rescue happened off-campus, on his way to his Gordon County school on a dark and dreary January morning.

Reynolds says he feels his steps were ordained that day. Had it been any other, he says he would've taken his typical route to school, but something told him to go a different way.

"I don't know why at the last second I did, but God put it in my heart," he said.

"I pulled out my phone because I was going to be late, so I wanted to show my teacher this is why I'm late," he said.

Cayman Reynolds is credited with pulling 2 people from a fiery crash and then going to class at Sonoraville High School. (Supplied)

Video captures fiery crash in Gordon County

The video he captured is just four seconds. In that time, Reynolds realized the people standing outside weren't survivors, they were bystanders trying to help others, trapped in a mangled and melting mess.

"He was yelling, 'Help, help, my legs!'" he said. "Pulled the door off and grabbed his legs. His quad was torn in half, he's jammed under the steering wheel, so I had to pull him out."

Cayman Reynolds is credited with pulling 2 people from a fiery crash and then going to class at Sonoraville High School. (FOX 5)

He says the man yelled out in pain.

"I'm like, ‘It's either this or you burn up in here, you tell me,’" Reynolds said.

That one rescue would've been impressive enough.

"I look at the other car. The other car is flipped over. Both of these are still on fire," he said.

Cayman Reynolds is credited with pulling 2 people from a fiery crash and then going to class at Sonoraville High School. (FOX 5)

A second man was caught in his seatbelt, desperately dodging fast-spreading flames.

With no clear exit, Reynolds and others made a way out.

"I see a wrench; his toolbox fell out. I broke a window, cleared the glass, but I was too big to get in the back window, so I asked the smaller lady, who was about 4-feet-11-inches, to squeeze in there and untie his seat belt and I said, 'I'll pull him out,'" he said.

Teen goes to class after saving 2 from mangled wreck

Unbothered by the odds, injuries or rain, this high schooler saved two people and even went to class. 

Sonoraville High School football player Cayman Reynolds was honored by the Gordon County School Board on Feb. 12, 2024. (Supplied)

Gordon County Schools have applauded Reynold's efforts online. He didn't tell school leaders about the crash the day it happened, but paramedics told the district.

It turns out, at least one of those cars hydroplaned. One of the men was airlifted to the hospital and is expected to survive. The other works for the Gordon County School System. Reynolds met him at Monday's board meeting.