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Photo courtesty of the Chadwicks.
Photo courtesty of the Chadwicks.
Photo courtesty of the Chadwicks.
Photo courtesty of the Chadwicks.
By Editor Becky Watts
LAMAR COUNTY - On Sunday, November 16, 2025 about 12:12 p.m. a dump truck was carrying a load of gravel southbound on Hwy 41 just inside the Lamar County line. The accident report states that the dump truck experienced a blown tire that caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle, cross over the grass median, and overturn on its passenger side on the right shoulder of the northbound lanes.
Looking at the damage from the wreck – a piece of a blown tire in the grass median, a gouge in the road where the rim hit the asphalt, a dirt trail where the truck tore across the median from the southbound to the other side of the northbound lanes, and a dump truck that lost its load of gravel and its front axle before coming to a rest on its side with its engine cover standing open -- it would be hard to imagine that the driver walked away from that wreck without serious injuries.
But that is exactly what happened.
Both the driver of that dump truck as well as the couple, whose lives he saved by snatching the wheel to the left after the tire blew out, are praising the Lord for His intervention in a situation that easily could have had a very different outcome.
The Wreck
Krystal and Randy Chadwick had just gotten home from Center Point Church where they had listened to Pastor Trey Powell preach on the topic of Grateful, Gratitude, and Thankfulness. “These were the words I heard from Pastor Trey Powell this morning during early service!” Krystal said in a social media post. “Never have I felt such an immediate confirmation of those words than in less than two hours later!”
Krystal told Pike County Times that they had just pulled into their driveway so Randy could check the mail while Krystal sat in the car. Krystal said that she heard a sound like a cannon. She turned and saw her husband running for the ditch as a dump truck driver made a split second decision that saved their lives.
Robert Vaughn was driving that dump truck down Hwy 41 with a full load of gravel. The accident report says that Robert's truck was about 40 feet from Randy at his mailbox when the tire blew.
Robert’s brother, Rudy Vaughn, told Pike County Times that his brother is a very experienced driver who has been driving for more than 20 years.Randy saw Robert snatch the wheel to the left to keep the truck – with the blown tire on the right side – from hitting him and Krystal. They saw the front axle come off of the truck as it crossed the median. Neighbors just south of the Chadwicks said that the wreck sounded like a bomb going off as the truck crashed across the median and came to a stop on the other side of the road.
Krystal wrote this in her social media post describing the incident: “Randy said it was the tire closest to him and normally the truck would have pulled right towards my car sitting in the driveway and towards him on the highway. But God! But God!”
She said that it was also a miracle that the dump truck didn’t hit the car on the other side of the road because that driver saw what was happening and was able to come to a stop as the truck came across the road.
“You can’t tell me God was not driving that truck and that His hand wasn’t on me and Randy! Because if you tried to, I would tell you how big my God is! But God! The highway. But God! But God!” Krystal wrote.
Randy climbed on top of the rig while another man was the bottom to check on the driver after the wreck. At first, things looked really bad because Robert wasn’t moving or responding when they ran to check on him, and he had a deep cut on his head.
But Robert came around and was able to get out of the cab of the truck with the help of those there and was sitting to the side of the truck with Randy holding a bandage to his head to help stop the bleeding when rescue crews arrived on the scene.
While they were waiting for emergency personnel to arrive, Krystal said Robert told them that he knew he had to get the truck away from their car. Randy told Robert that “God had His hand on you and us today.”
Closing
Robert was transported to the hospital for treatment after the wreck. He walked away from that wreck with a gash on his head and no broken bones!
Rudy told Pike County Times that Robert said it was God guiding that truck to avoid hitting any other cars that day.
“We pray every time we get in the trucks,” Rudy said.
“I’m just so thankful he had the forethought to turn the wheel, and that he survived the wreck,” Krystal said. She credits God with saving their lives and Robert’s life as he turned that dump truck to the left to avoid hitting her and husband.
“Our lives could have been taken in one split second,” Krystal said in her social media post. She said that they would have been in the presence of the Lord if they had died that day, but they are grateful to still be here.
Krystal ended her post by saying, I’m blessed, grateful, and thankful for every blessing He has ever given me. She also told those reading the post to kiss their family members. “You never know when it may be your last time!”
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