Driver Speaks Out About Bank Awning Crash

An east Texas father and son were just inches away from being crushed to death and now they share their near-death experience.

As we showed you Tuesday night, Mickey Miller and his 10-year old son were in this truck, when Miller clipped the bank awning and it all came crashing down on them. Miller spoke with Good Morning America Thursday and now KLTV 7's Courtney Lane shares their incredible story.

He was going to swing by his bank and close the deal on this new travel-trailer. But Mickey Miller says he never foresaw what happened next.

"As I was going around the canopy I heard a tearing noise and I hit my brakes. Then I looked out the left side of my window and I saw the awning just falling slowly."

With his 10-year-old son Ty strapped-in next to him, Miller had very little time to react.

"My truck started crushing in around me and glass was busting and my son was looking at me and he was scared."

Center police say the father and son quickly crawled out of the passenger side of the truck, and it was that fast action that probably saved their lives.

"When I finally got out of the truck and we were fine, I really just felt stupid. I said to myself 'how could you be that stupid, to pull down a whole bank drive-through?'

Looking back, Miller says he can laugh a little at the bizarre accident that's been seen across the country.

"The part that I haven't laughed at is the actual fear in Ty's face whenever he was looking at me and he was worried about getting out of that truck."

A costly lesson to learn...

"I can promise you I will never drive through another awning, that's it."

But Miller says the near-death disaster has made he and his son stronger in their faith.

"I thank God, cause if we could slow that video down, it's got to be an angel in there somewhere and I'm going to remember it forever too."

Miller and his son walked away without a scratch, though we can't say the same for his truck, which was totaled.

Courtney Lane, Reporting  clane@kltv.com