NORFOLK, Va. — Korbin Thompson has seen a lot in her career as a mental health coach at CHKD and behavior specialist.
"I worked in-patient, I worked in-home, I've worked in schools. I've seen it all so there's not many issues or challenging behaviors I have not faced," Thompson said.
But August 4 brought something new.
Thompson had gone out into a flooded Norfolk to pick up her daughter from cheerleading practice at Maury High School. When roads became impassable, she got out of her car and hit record on her phone to chronicle her journey on-foot.
That's when she came across several feet of flooding at the Colley Avenue underpass in Ghent — and watched an SUV drive straight into it.
"Why would you do that?" Thompson can be heard saying in video she first shared with News 3 the next day.
After a moment of disbelief, Thompson jumped into action.
"Did my little fussin'. I just jumped into action and was like, 'Okay, let's get this lady out the water,'" Thompson told News 3.
Seen on video in her green scrubs, Thompson stuck her leg through a railing and pulled the floating vehicle closer to shore, doing everything she could to get the woman to safety.
"Get on top of your car and get up here," Thompson called out during the rescue.
What Thompson didn't know was that News 3's Brian Smith was rolling live on the other side of the underpass, capturing the rescue as it happened. The footage was shared thousands of times online.
The response to her heroism was swift — and lighthearted.
"I've gotten a lot of 'Don't skip leg day.' I've gained maybe 2,000 new followers," Thompson said.
News 3 surprised Thompson with its Everyday Hero award, presented in partnership with Southern Bank.
"Thank you so much. I didn't do it for this! I didn't even know you guys were out there," Thompson said.
Thompson channels that same drive to help others through her business, Healing in Every Space, where she uses her background as a behavior specialist to support local families.
"I just wanna kinda give back to the families who could use a little extra support," Thompson said.
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