ANSWERING THE CALL, Anthony didn't have time to ask questions—he just took his boat and headed out.

Reaching Higher Ground

Posted November 19, 2009

ANTHONY EDWARDS: "I'm merely a servant, a neighbor helping a neighbor..."

GROWING UP ON A FARM in Tennessee taught Anthony Edwards many life lessons. A man’s name and word are his bond. Always help your neighbor, and in return they’ll help you. And perhaps, most prophetically, Mother Nature must always be respected.

On a late September day, in the small town of Powder Springs, Georgia, Anthony was tested. A heavy rain had fallen all night and into Monday morning. As Anthony tried to make his way to the Hiram Regions branch, where he is a branch manager, he found one of the major roads closed due to flooding. The only thing he could do was turn around and go home. Shortly thereafter he received a phone call–one that would perhaps change the course of his life and the lives of others forever.

“My neighbor Rob called and said that he was at Sun Valley Beach [a recreational area] and that he needed help. They were looking for people with boats. I didn’t have time to ask any questions. I hitched up my boat within minutes and headed out.”

When Anthony arrived, emergency vehicles were everywhere, and sixty or so people were standing and peering down a street that was rapidly disappearing underwater. Anthony cranked up the motor of his boat and began to maneuver down the road, checking his depth finder to monitor the water level—first 5 feet, as he started to notice street signs topped by the murky waters; at 19 feet, he could only see roofs of houses; and by the time he reached a barn at the end of the road, the water was over 23 feet deep.

“I felt like I was in the middle of a scene from a disaster movie, moving in slow motion. People were standing on roofs. I’m smelling the air and hearing the cries for help,” says Anthony. “So I did what we’re called on to do in a situation like this–act.” And act quickly, he did. Before the motor on his boat finally gave out, Anthony had rescued a family of five from rising waters, bridled a donkey and pulled him alongside the boat to higher ground, saved two cats (with a few scratches as battle scars), and procured a ledger from the barn rafters that contained thoroughbred horse documentation the owner needed for insurance purposes. “I didn’t care about the potential danger I was personally facing, only getting to everyone and everything I could before it was too late.”

While maintaining a quiet strength and purpose in the moment, Anthony admits that looking back upon it now scares him a bit. “I think of soldiers who have been on the frontlines of war or firefighters rushing into burning buildings. I’ve always imagined how terrifying that would be. But now I know what kicks in,” he says. “I believe we all have a part of us that is similar to those wall boxes you see that say ‘In case of emergency, break glass.’ When faced with an urgent situation, our adrenaline releases and our focus intensifies—we become willing to risk our lives for others. I feel like I had 500 senses that day, every one of them acute. The glass had been broken, and I found a God-given strength to get the job done.”

Even now that the waters have receded, Anthony’s job is far from complete. The next day, he opened the bank branch with three people. “I spent that day trying to attend to our customers’ immediate needs,” he says. The team also donated money, as well as raised funds from customers, to purchase buckets of supplies to help people begin the arduous task of cleaning up the flood’s aftermath. Later in the week, when Anthony learned he was to be honored for his efforts at a Regions officers’ meeting, he chose to politely decline. “I called and said I just couldn’t get away. My work wasn’t done.” And that work continues to this day, as he does everything he can to assist in the recovery. “In these kinds of times, we must invest in our brothers and sisters and help them get back on their feet.”

Anthony modestly shuns the label of “hero,” preferring instead to be known simply as a son of the community. “That is the greatest compliment I could be given. I’m merely a servant, a neighbor helping a neighbor, even if it’s one I’ve never met before,” he says. “When faced with adversity, I really believe that human nature will rise to the occasion every time. It’s something I first learned as a young man on that farm–you have to rely on one another to get through the hard times, the low harvests. It’s what brings us closer together. And you can’t give testimony if you haven’t been tested.”

Everyone has a story.