Two-time hero saves lost older couple on Tennessee highway
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Most people rarely find themselves with an opportunity to be a hero, for Brandon Keller that opportunity has come twice in the past two months.
On the cold early morning of Jan. 27, Keller was driving to work when he noticed two individuals, one lying on the ground, by a vehicle on the side of Highway 36. At first, Keller thought nothing of it, but as he drove away, he felt the sudden pull to go back and check on the situation.
“As soon as I got to the bottom of the hill, I thought, ‘you know, something is just isn’t sitting right,’” Keller said. “As soon as that hit my mind, it was almost like, not a panic. It was almost just like my brain switched into a different gear.”
Once Keller returned to the scene, his Eagle Scout first-aid training kicked in. He found James Jackson, 81, shivering inside the vehicle and moved him to his heated truck. Keller did not realize the couple was the subject of a Silver Alert and authorities were searching for them.
Before moving James Jackson, Keller got a blanket from his truck to cover Lana Jackson, 75, who was shivering on the side of the road. He then called the police. Once the officer arrived, they carefully moved Lana to the back of his truck when the officer informed Keller he was once again a hero.
“When we set her in there, that’s when he looked at me and said, ‘well, you’ve done it again, didn’t ya.’ I said, ‘No, what are you talking about?’ He said these people had been [reported] missing for two days by the TBI [Tennessee Bureau of Investigation].” Keller said. “He looked at me, and he’s just like ‘boy wait till [Sheriff] Cassidy hears about this one.’”
Keller and his father Timothy Keller had been honored by the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office Tuesday, Jan. 11 with a Citizen Lifesaving Award after the two encountered an upside-down vehicle on the road by their Blountville home on Christmas Day. They extracted the 89-yearold driver from the smoldering car saving him just before the vehicle burst into flames.
Keller remembered how he struggled to find sleep on the days following the Christmas Day incident.
“I would have a hard time falling asleep because my mind would race, and it would take me back, and my adrenaline would pulse, and it would keep me up.”
Keller attributes his faith with the feeling of calm he has felt after this second incident.
“I feel like the Lord has let me be able to be involved in two situations like that, where I have potentially changed the trajectory of somebody’s life in a physical way,” he said. “I wake up thankful. I go to sleep thankful. It is just such an overwhelming peace.”
Cassidy presented Keller with a second Citizen Lifesaving Award on Feb. 3 for his heroic deed of saving the elderly couple. Keller recalled the mixed emotions he felt while receiving the second award.
“I couldn’t believe that I was standing there with Sheriff Cassidy again receiving another award. I kind of felt a mix of emotions. I felt humbled and grateful,” Keller said. “I did not feel worthy. I do not feel worthy to receive either of those awards.”
Keller wants people to know it is OK to trust your instincts and hopes that by sharing his experience, people will look to help one another in times of trouble.
“Don’t ever ignore what you feel you should do. It’s OK to take charge,” Keller said. “I just think it’s our duty as any citizen to look out and care for one another.”