Swamp People’s Joe LaFont and Tommy Chauvin’s lives saved by a boat (on a trailer)

Joe LaFont and Tommy Chauvin are fine, but they might not have been if the car driving behind them on April 30th hadn’t been towing a boat. The Swamp People stars were driving on Highway 71 between Ida and and Doddridge, Arkansas, very close to the Louisianna state line, when an 18 wheeler slammed into the boat being towed by the car behind them. When the truck hit the boat trailer, it jack-knifed, according to LaFont, and lost a bit of its momentum.

“If it wasn’t for the boat, I would have been killed … It was like a bomb went off,” LaFont says of the harrowing incident.

Joe and Tommy’s Ford F-150 was still hit pretty hard, but not hard enough to injure them. The vehicle is totaled, but perhaps the biggest loss was all of the Swamp People merchandise that landed all over Highway 71. No one was killed in this serious, multi-car pile up, but at least two people were air-lifted for immediate medical attention. CLICK HERE to see the KSLA news story and some scary photos of the pile up and HERE for more photos from Newstime.com.

Joe had some back trouble during the 2011 alligator hunting season, and it must have been pretty bad since he had to let Tommy go hunting alone for at least one day. According to this TMZ interview, he’s been feeling a little stiff since the accident, and he plans to let a doctor check him out. Good idea, Joe. We need you in the swamp.

We’re so glad you’re OK, guys. Be careful out there!