Officer Breanna Toney’s car smolders after catching fire on Monday, Jan. 31. (Submitted)
Mitchell County native Trevor Self flexed his heroism on Monday, Jan. 31 when he pulled Marion police officer Breanna Toney from a burning car following a wreck on NC 226 in the Snow Creek area.
The crash happened just after 6 a.m. on Jan. 31 when two vehicles— including a 2021 Dodge Charger driven by Toney— collided. The other vehicle, a 2017 Toyota Tacoma driven by Audie Peterson, Jr., traveled across the center line and struck Toney head-on as she was commuting to work.
After the impact, Toney’s car caught fire. She was trapped. Self, who was coming through while on his way to work, forced the driver-side door open and pulled Toney to safety.
Toney was airlifted to Johnson City where she had surgery for lower-body injuries. She also sustained several broken ribs and will require an extended hospital stay and potentially rehabilitation. She is expected to fully recover.
Peterson, Jr. was also injured and cited for driving left of center.
The Marion Police Department thanked Self for his heroism in a press release. Self could not be reached for comment by the News-Journal by press time.
“The Marion Police Department and the City of Marion are forever grateful to this citizen for his efforts and would like to formally recognize him in the near future,” the release read.
Mitchell County Sheriff Donald Street took to Facebook to thank Self.
“There are true heroes walking among us,” Street wrote. “He pulled her from the car while it was on fire.”
A Facebook comment thread about the wreck spawned discussion about the possibility of formally recognizing Self at a future meeting of the Mitchell County Board of Commissioners.
“We are on it,” wrote commissioner Matthew “Vern” Grindstaff. “We discussed this at our last meeting. Very much deserved.”