It’s the friends that stick by you no matter what, that matters the most.
And one Tennessee man is finding out just how true that statement is.
Taylor Boyle is lucky to be alive, but given his circle of friends, luck only played a small part in that.
Boyle had jumped on his motorcycle and headed to pick up a quick dinner at McDonalds not far from his house. That was the last anyone had seen or heard from him, and there had been no activity on his phone or bank accounts.
Family and friends quickly filed a missing person’s report with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, said Cameron Williams, a long-time friend of Boyle’s.
Williams said that friends gathered and began searching all the possible routes Boyle could have taken – but weren’t able to find him.
Taylor Boyle and his motorcycle were found in a rural area of Powell, Tenn. Photo courtesy of Cameron Williams
“(That) evening, there were probably five vehicles with three to five people in each vehicle that kind of broke down in different areas of the town and started looking in ditches and ravines,” Williams said.
They continued searching for Boyle until the sun went down, he said. Then, three friends began walking along roads with flashlights, searching the trees for a sign of their friend.
A group of three friends decided to get out of their vehicle and walk down a road using flashlights, Williams said.
Brandon Lawson, Ryan French and Chase Lovelace noticed a path that veered off of the road, and began to make their way down there.
“When I looked down in there, I didn’t see him at first and as I was panning out, I saw something sparkle — basically just saw the light reflect,” Lawson said.
And when I did, I looked back and I just saw the Harley wheel.”
They quickly called 911, and let everyone know they had found Boyle.
Friends gather around the rescue vehicle after locating Taylor Boyle. Photo courtesy of Cameron Williams
Boyle, they said, was lying in a ditch for the past 60 hours, after crashing his motorcycle into a nearby tree.
He was alert and talking, but because of a concussion, unaware of how much danger he was in.
“He had guardian angels with him as he only thought he had been there for an hour camping with his dad,” Boyle’s family wrote on Facebook.
He was rushed to the hospital, where doctors are treating him for a dislocated elbow, concussion and a small brain bleed.
Doctors said he has a “long road to recovery.”
“All I was worried about doing was just finding him. Anything and everything that we had to do, as long as it took. We just had to find him, I knew he was out there,” French said.
“It’s pretty crazy, honestly, as far as he was down here. And, as much as you can see from up here, it’s a miracle that we found him. I just praise God every day.”
Watch below for this miraculous rescue!
