SUFFOLK, Va. — William Furman told me it is a miracle he is alive today.
“[God] is a miracle worker,” Furman said.
On March 31, Easter Sunday, Furman was driving along Route 460 in Suffolk near Highway 58 when a car crashed into his truck. The impact that afternoon sent Furman’s vehicle into a tree, leaving him trapped and unconscious. He woke up in a hospital bed.
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“[The accident] tore my nose off. The airbag did cut my eyelid. I had three broken ribs. It broke my sternum. It shattered my pelvic bone, and the back part of my ankle was severed off,” Furman said.
Furman told me he doesn’t remember the moment a group of good Samaritans, including Chesapeake pastor Charles Gordon, risked their lives to save him from the flames.
“The opportunity to help somebody, to love somebody, to share God’s love with people. It’s everywhere,” said Gordon. “Opportunity is everywhere, every day.”
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Gordon told me he and his wife were leaving Easter Sunday service in Chesapeake and heading to his mother’s home when they saw Furman’s crash on Route 460.
“Seeing the car go airborne, and it just smacked right into the tree,” recalled Gordon’s wife Gabrielle. “Immediately, he [said] just pull over.”
Gordon’s training from nearly 30 years in the Coast Guard kicked into gear.
“As I’m running, I’m yelling ‘Open the door!” he recalled.
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Gordon said he used a large piece of wood to shatter the glass on Furman’s truck while other good Samaritans joined him to save Furman from the impending flames.
“I hit it like four times before it finally shattered, and I just started clawing through,” said Gordon, who showed me traces of scars left behind on his wrists.
He continued, “This other gentleman comes over, and he grabbed onto the door, and we started yanking on the door. Another guy had a knife on him, cut [Furman’s] seatbelt. We drug him out of the car and got him over by the median.”
Furman was airlifted to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
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Gordon was able to get Furman’s information, and later called Furman’s mother, Theresa, to check on him throughout his treatment.
I said to Furman’s mother, “When you when you think about what could have happened [to your son] if Mr. Gordon had not stepped in…”
She said, “I think he would have burned up, because the truck burned up, literally. Completely.”
Last month, I received a letter from Theresa Furman, nominating Gordon for our Everyday Hero award. We agreed to surprise Gordon at a Chesapeake Cracker Barrel during the family’s first face-to-face meeting with him following the crash.
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“I don’t know what to say,” said a humble Gordon after I surprised him with the award and a $300 gift card from our community partners at Southern Bank.
I asked Furman, “What does it mean to you to meet one of the men that helped save your life that day?”
He responded, “Everything. This is my brother in God now.”
As the two leaned in for a hug, Gordon said, “I told him he was saved for a purpose.”
If you know someone like Gordon who is going above and beyond to serve others in our community, please nominate them for a News 3 Everyday Hero award.
