Dramatic Footage Shows Christian School Students Sprint to Save Mom and Toddler Trapped Under Car
This Utah “miracle” took about two dozen very determined high school students, one of whom said afterward it proved “God is really with us.”
On Dec. 5, a woman and two of her children were struck by a car and pinned under the vehicle in the parking lot of Layton Christian Academy in Layton, a northern suburb of Salt Lake City.
The 3-year-old girl was able to crawl away, but the mom and her 2-year-old son were trapped, according to KSTU-TV.
Until a flood of students stepped in to prevent a tragedy.
Video of the incident from the school security camera that was posted to X shows student after student streaming out of the school to help.
Exclusive video of high school boys and girls at Layton Christian Academy coming to the rescue of a mom and child trapped underneath a car. See the story only on @KSL5TV at 10. pic.twitter.com/iFn0GU7ufb
— Dan Rascon (@TVDanRascon) December 6, 2023
“I didn’t really know what was going on,” Chris Crowder, Layton Christian Academy’s head of school and associate pastor, told KSL-TV. “I looked across the parking lot and noticed the car and they were screaming, and so I ran over there and I looked under the car and I [saw a] mom and child underneath the car pinned.”
“It was split second. I immediately just ran into the building because I knew I had to get a lot of people to lift this car,” he said.
“We got to just lift enough to get them out, and the kids listened,” Crowder said. “They picked up the car on the one side, probably 20 to 30 kids, just an inch or two, enough that the Air Force gentleman was able to pull them out. The kids were heroes, as well as the gentleman that was there and pulled them out.”
That was Dominique Childress, a senior airman from Hill Air Force Base who was at the school to pick up his children and joined in the rescue, according to KTVX-TV.
Police said neither the mother nor her children suffered life-threatening injuries, although all required hospitalization.
“Something so routine can turn tragic so quickly,” Crowder told KSL. “It’s a miracle. We have just seen God do so many things here, and this is one of them.”
“The doctor said it was a miracle that they didn’t have severe life-threatening injuries,” the head of school said in an interview with KSTU. “The 2-year-old actually had tire marks on his back, and the doctors can’t find anything wrong.”
Childress told KTSU that he saw “kids just start trying to pick up a car, and I was like, ‘OK, I guess I’m joining in. Let’s pick up a car.'”
“I noticed legs come out and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s an actual child under this car,’” he said.
“So I was like, ‘Hey guys, switch it up. Grab the kid. Let’s get the car high enough so we can get the kid out.’ Somebody came, pulled the kid out and mom was able to get out 15 seconds later,” Childress said.
“It’s working together. You preach it in every aspect of life, whether it’s military or I know they teach the same thing in high school, right? Work together and you’re going to be able to get something done. We did,” he said.
Student Theophious Roach said he and others were enjoying the end of a school day when everything changed.
“I came out those doors right here, just chilling. I walked out, there was a lot of commotion going on and people were just telling me to help, so I just dropped my stuff and ran over,” he told KSTU.
“I think it just shows togetherness and that God is really with us,” Roach said.
The injured were identified as school employee Bridgette Ponson, her 2-year-old son, Archer, and her 3-year-old daughter, Brightley. Police believe sun in the eyes of the driver was a factor in the incident.
A GoFundMe set up to raise money for the family’s medical expenses had taken in more than $36,000 — topping a goal of $35,000 — by Dec. 13.
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