Then tragedy struck: The shed fell down on him and knocked him unconscious.
“It came down like it was supposed to, but then it flipped over sideways and knocked me out and pinned me underneath it,” Gannaway told WHO TV.
Luckily, Gannaway had given his 13-year-old son, Ethan, a cell phone beforehand with instructions to call 911 if anything bad happened.
The boy did as he was told, and then he and his younger siblings, 11-year-old Peyton, 9-year-old Addison and 5-year-old Kaiden sprang into action.
They somehow raised the shed up and dragged their dad to a safer spot before paramedics arrived.
“It was a heavy shed,” Ethan said, according to CBS News. “We tried to keep him from dying and get the ambulance over here to save him.”
Gannaway was unconscious for five minutes before he woke up to the sound of sirens.
“I was just in extreme extreme pain,” he said, according to CBS News.
Gannaway suffered a broken scapula and several cuts and bruises from the accident. It was only when he was at the hospital that he learned just how narrowly he avoided a fatal neck or back injury.
A few days later, he remains impressed with how his kids handled the situation.
“I’m just absolutely so proud of them,” Gannaway told the Marshalltown Times-Republican. “[When] I heard that my kids were the ones that saved me, I couldn’t have had a prouder moment.”
His son, Ethan, is just grateful for the happy ending.
But Gannaway quickly went from being a hospital patient back to being a dad.
A few hours after the ordeal, he took his kids to their regularly scheduled softball games and watched them from the stands.
“The least I could do is try to support them a little bit,” he told the Marshalltown Times-Republican.
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WASHINGTON, DC. - JAN. 21: Organizers put the Women's March on Washington in Washington D.C. on Saturday Jan. 21, 2017. (Photo by Damon Dahlen, Huffington Post)
WASHINGTON, DC. - JAN. 21: Organizers put the Women's March on Washington in Washington D.C. on Saturday Jan. 21, 2017. (Photo by Damon Dahlen, Huffington Post)
WASHINGTON, DC. - JAN. 21: Organizers put the Women's March on Washington in Washington D.C. on Saturday Jan. 21, 2017. (Photo by Damon Dahlen, Huffington Post)
WASHINGTON, DC. - JAN. 21: Organizers put the Women's March on Washington in Washington D.C. on Saturday Jan. 21, 2017. (Photo by Damon Dahlen, Huffington Post)
WASHINGTON, DC. - JAN. 21: Organizers put the Women's March on Washington in Washington D.C. on Saturday Jan. 21, 2017. (Photo by Damon Dahlen, Huffington Post)
WASHINGTON, DC. - JAN. 21: Organizers put the Women's March on Washington in Washington D.C. on Saturday Jan. 21, 2017. (Photo by Damon Dahlen, Huffington Post)
WASHINGTON, DC. - JAN. 21: Organizers put the Women's March on Washington in Washington D.C. on Saturday Jan. 21, 2017. (Photo by Damon Dahlen, Huffington Post)
WASHINGTON, DC. - JAN. 21: Organizers put the Women's March on Washington in Washington D.C. on Saturday Jan. 21, 2017. (Photo by Damon Dahlen, Huffington Post)
WASHINGTON, DC. - JAN. 21: Organizers put the Women's March on Washington in Washington D.C. on Saturday Jan. 21, 2017. (Photo by Damon Dahlen, Huffington Post)
Taken at the Women's March on Washington D.C.
Children hold banners as they stand beside their parents in Washington D.C.
Children hold banners as they stand beside their parents in Washington D.C.
Protesters take part in the Melbourne rally to protest against the Trump Inauguration on January 21, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia.
Protesters gather in New York for the Women's March on January 21, 2017.
A child carries a sign as migrants and refugees demonstrate in Athens on January 21, 2017, in solidarity with the Women's March on Washington.
A boy carries a sign as migrants and refugees demonstrate in Athens on January 21, 2017.
A child carries a sign as migrants and refugees demonstrate in Athens on January 21, 2017.
A young girl on the shoulders of a woman in Bristol in a march to promote women's rights in the wake of the US election result.
Women gather in front of the US Embassy in Accra to support 'Women March' held against President Donald Trump in Washington in Accra, Ghana on January 21, 2017.
Thousands of people take part in the Women's March on January 21, 2017 in New York City.
An infant is held aloft at a protest against new U.S. President Donald Trump on January 21, 2017 in Sydney, Australia.
An infant is held up at a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump on January 21, 2017 in Sydney, Australia.
A woman carries a baby with a note fastened to the baby carrier and reading 'Women's rights are human rights!' during a rally in solidarity with the Women's March taking place in Washington and many other cities on January 21, 2017 in Bordeaux, Southwestern France.
Leila Williams displays a banner as she sits on her fathers shoulders in Hyde Park on January 21, 2017 in Sydney, Australia.
Emily Kafe and Lachlan Kafe hold banners as they stand beside their mother, Gwen Churnie (obscured) on January 21, 2017 in Sydney, Australia.
Protesters hold up banners in Hyde Park on January 21, 2017 in Sydney, Australia.
Demonstrators make their way towards US Consulate during the Women's March held at Museumplein on January 21, 2017 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Taken at the march in Philadelphia
Children attend the Women's March in New York City.
Children attend the Women's March in New York City.
Children attend the Women's March in New York City.
Children attend the Women's March in New York City.
Children attend the Women's March in New York City.
Gemma Newell, 5, holds a sign during the Women's March in Seattle, Washington on January 21, 2017.
Thousands of people gathered for the Women's March in London.
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