Terry Dotson was awakened by a loud noise around 3 a.m. Thursday.

Whatever it was shook the whole house, he told WTVC-TV.

"We heard the noise, and we thought it was an earthquake," he said.

Not hearing anything else, the Ringgold, Georgia, man and his wife went back to sleep.

At around 4:30 the next morning, they turned on the TV, expecting to see a report about the earthquake. But there was nothing like that in the news.

Later, the station reported, the homeowner discovered the source of the noise: A vehicle had smashed through Dotson's yard, splintering the deck and leaving the driver hanging on a fence.

"When it got daylight, I did come out and I found a young man lodged up against my dog lot and his car on past there about 20 more yards," Dotson told the station.

He saw that the young man "was alive and he was hurting."

Dotson said he rendered first aid until an ambulance arrived.

The front end of the car, which the Georgia State Police said was a Volkswagen SUV, was a mess of crumpled, twisted metal. Car parts, including a wheel, broke off and were scattered throughout the area.

The news station reported that the driver had been "going well above the speed limit" on the highway.

"I'm amazed at how far an automobile can travel without its wheels hitting the ground," Dotson told the TV station.

No none else was in the SUV.

Georgia State Patrol told the station that the Volkswagen was headed south on GA 151 when the driver left the road and hit a culvert.

Dotson has not yet determined how much property damage was caused by the crash.

The driver's condition was unavailable, and WTVC said they have not learned whether the driver will face any charges.

Ringgold is in northwestern Georgia near Chattanooga, Tennessee.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.