The Duck River was moving fast enough to decide the direction for anyone caught in it.
On May 23, 2025, at Chickasaw Trace Park in Columbia, Tennessee, 25-year-old Colin McNary ran into the river near a boat ramp. According to the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, McNary was severely autistic, and once he entered the water, the current swept him downstream.
Samuel Hardin Adcock was nearby.
Adcock was 26 years old and worked as an auto assembly plant tool coordinator. That day, he was not there as part of any rescue crew. He was simply close enough to see the situation become dangerous.
The river had already taken McNary away from the ramp.
Adcock entered the water.
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He swam downstream after him, working against the current, the distance, and the time.
His brother in law, who was on shore with children nearby, told the children to get out of the water and go to the car. Then he entered the river too, following Adcock and McNary downstream.
The distance grew quickly.
About 1,000 feet from the boat ramp, McNary was swept into a calmer area of the river. Adcock caught up to him there and grabbed him.
That did not end the problem.
McNary was struggling to stay afloat. In the struggle, he submerged Adcock.
Adcock pushed away to get air, then found footing on an underwater tree limb.
That small piece of leverage mattered.
Standing on the limb, Adcock grabbed McNary again and pushed him toward the riverbank. By then, his brother-in-law had reached them and positioned himself behind McNary.
Together, the two men pushed and pulled McNary toward a large tree root along the bank.
They reached it.
But they could not simply climb out.
The bank was steep, rocky, and difficult to scale from the water. They had gotten McNary out of the current, but they were still trapped at the edge of the river.
Adcock’s brother-in-law swam upstream about 120 feet looking for another route out. He could not find one and returned to the group.
They stayed there with McNary until first responders arrived.
A rescue boat eventually reached them and took McNary back to the boat ramp, where his parents were waiting. An ambulance transported him to a hospital. The boat returned for Adcock and his brother-in-law.
All three were tired and cold.
None were injured.
Later, still wet from the river, Adcock and his brother-in-law went to the hospital to check on McNary.
The river had moved fast at the beginning.
The response did not.
It had to continue through the swim, the struggle, the push to the bank, the failed search for a way out, and the wait for responders.
Adcock did not stop at reaching him.
He stayed with him until the river was no longer deciding the outcome.
What He Did And Why It Is Worth Noticing
Samuel Hardin Adcock entered the Duck River, swam downstream after Colin McNary, caught up to him about 1,000 feet from the boat ramp, and helped move him to the riverbank until responders arrived.
That is what he did.
It is worth noticing because the action required more than one decision. He had to enter the river, reach McNary, regain control after being pulled under, use an underwater tree limb for leverage, and keep working until the rescue boat arrived.
The first act was movement.
The rest was endurance.
A man was swept downstream. Adcock went in after him and held the situation together until help could finish the rescue.
That changed what happened next.
If you saw someone swept away by a river, would you enter the water or wait for rescue crews to arrive?