Layton Christian Academy was the scene of terrifying but heartwarming incident recently, with dozens of the Christian high schoolers being caught on camera running to rescue a mother and her two children after the family was hit and pinned underneath a crashed vehicle in the school’s parking lot.
The kids were called to help by their pastor and the school’s CEO, and when the call came they quickly made it into action and were able to lift up the car and pull the mom and her two year old son to safety, while the 3-year-old girl was able to squeeze out on her own.
Chris Crowder, associate pastor and CEO of the school, told KSLTV that he called on the students to help when he saw that the mother and children were trapped and screaming under the car, saying, “I didn’t really know what was going on. I looked across the parking lot and noticed the car and they were screaming and so I ran over there and I look under the car and I see mom and child underneath the car pinned.”
Continuing, Crowder added, “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. We have about 220 domestic kids and over 300 international kids at the school. They just heard me yell. All these kids from different countries just come running out and lift it up.”
Describing what happened as the kids rushed to the rescue and how they got the kids and mom out from under the car, said, “We got to just lift enough to get them out and the kids listened. They picked up the car on the one side, 20 to 30 kids, just an inch or two, enough for the Air Force gentleman (who) was able to pull them out. The kids were heroes, as well as the gentleman that was there and pulled them out.”
Crowder added that the mother took the brunt of the injuries from the accident, saying, “Mom took the brunt of it being under the car. The car was resting on mom and she had (her boy) in her arms and I think she protected him.” He added, “Something so routine can turn tragic so quickly. It’s a miracle. We have just seen God do so many things here and this is one of them. The car went over all three (of them).”
Watch the video, shared to X by KSLTV’s Dan Rascon, here:
A GoFundMe has been created to help the injured mother and children handle the financial aspects of the tragic accident. Describing the incident and asking for help, it said, “After school on December 5th, 2023 Bridgette and her two children were run over by a car in the Layton Christian Academy and Christian Life Center parking lot. With the help of a brave military hero and 20 LCA students, they were able to lift the car off of the family. The son, age 2 was taken to the children’s hospital via careflight and both Bridgette and her daughter, age 3 were rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. We now ask for your help to cover medical bills, surgeries, and lost wages due to being away from work. GoFundMe requires a goal, but we welcome any support, including prayers for the Ponson family. Thank you for your support of this amazing mother and her beautiful children as they heal from this tragic accident. We also have the incredible husband and father, Andrew Ponson, in our prayers as he takes care of his family.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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