"He was in complete disbelief": Survival Mode Episode 6 to revisit the disturbing aftermath of Fort Worth Pileup from 2021

NBC's latest docuseries, Survival Mode, premiered on July 7, 2025. Produced by NBC News Studios, this docuseries will explore how people endure disasters. Through survivors' and first responders' interviews, raw footage, and archives, the viewers get a sneak peek inside each crisis. From the devastating Joplin Tornado to the sinking of the Costa Concordia, every episode shows how survival is fierce yet fiercely fought for.

Episode 6 of Survival Mode, titled Fort Worth Pileup, which is set to premiere on August 11, 2025, delves into the 2021 Fort Worth 133-car pile-up crash that left six dead and many injured. In a recently released clip, Trey McDaniel, a paramedic and crash victim, shared how the authorities thought he was among the dead in the Fort Worth pileup. He shared,

"I wanted to go back in there and help as much as I could, not realizing the extent of my injuries. I woke up and I see one of my supervisors show up on the scene and he looks over me. He does a double-take, sees me in my uniform, but then asks me why is my nose bleeding? I pointed to my vehicle, and he was in complete disbelief that I had survived."

McDaniel continued,

"I felt exhausted, but at the same time, I had so much adrenaline still pumping that I didn't feel any pain. It didn't occur to me how extensive that hit was from behind."

Survival Mode Episode 6: What led to the Fort Worth Pileup?

Multiple vehicle collisions are among the deadliest highway disasters: sudden, brutal, and often unavoidable. NBC's Survival Mode Episode 6 takes viewers inside one of the most catastrophic traffic disasters, the 2021 Fort Worth pile-up.

On a chilly morning of February 11, 2021, fog and freezing drizzle reduced the visibility to near zero on I-35 W near Fort Worth, Texas. Around 6:00 am, one car braked and crashed into a concrete barrier, another spun, and the chain reaction unfolded in seconds, leading to a disaster that no one saw coming.

Reports showed that the crash stretched over a thousand feet and involved several passenger and commercial vehicles, turning the highway into a scene of mangled metal and chaos. Almost six people died, and a dozen were injured. As per reports, 133 cars piled up.

Episode 6 of Survival Mode will try to give viewers a detailed outlook of what might have happened on that unfateful day. Through dashcam recordings, raw news footage, and survivors' interviews, the episode will reconstruct each moment of the disaster.

Dwight Kern McDaniel, a survivor of the Fort Worth pileup, told (via WFFA)

"I've never seen anything like it. It just kind of dawned on me like what kind of situation I just encountered,"

As per the National Transportation Safety Board, the disaster was caused due to the lack of maintenance of the highway in such fragile weather conditions. In the report, they stated that North Tarrant Express Mobility Partners Segment 3, the company responsible for maintaining that part of the highway, failed to take precautionary measures. Apart from that, the NTSB also blamed the drivers who were driving above the speed limit. (75 mph)

Also read: Dateline: The Bad Man - 5 harrowing details about Cathy Krauseneck's murder, revisited

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