‘I am so thankful He let me live’: Bainbridge woman saved moments before car crushed during storm

BAINBRIDGE, Ga. (WALB) - Speaking through the pain of fractured ribs, back pain and difficulty breathing, a Bainbridge woman thanks God and first responders that she’s alive following Tuesday’s storms across southwest Georgia.

A tree fell on Rhonda Kendrick’s car as she was stopped at a stop sign on Tuesday.

“I just heard a tremendous crash and felt the tremendous pressure on my chest and back and it was pretty scary, rain started pouring in. Glass was everywhere,” Kendrick said.

Kendrick said she had only planned to be out a few minutes and was a few blocks from home when the tree came down at Sharpe and Scott streets.

“I was praying for quite a while there. So then, I heard people’s voices outside and knew they were getting help,” she said.

That help would come from Bainbridge Public Safety, a family of tree removers and line workers. They quickly deadened the power lines, cut the tree around her and pulled her out.

“She was very lucky. That where she was positioned and the way the tree had hit, the top of the vehicle took a lot of the blow and kept the tree from crushing the car completely. Could have been a lot worse,” Doyle Welch, Bainbridge fire chief, said.

Kendrick said she believes God heard her prayers.

“I am so thankful he let me live another day to see my family again,” she said.

One message Kendrick has is to stay home when there’s bad weather outside.

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