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On the Friday after Thanksgiving, Jakesia Colson was on the road, heading home with friends and family. In the car with her was her eight-month-old daughter, Bryce Hale; sister, Shameerah Colson; friend, Justice Lawson; and Lawson’s mother, Trinia Johnson.
Johnson had been driving when an 18-wheeler made an “improper and unsafe” lane change, causing the truck to clip the side of their car.
All five of the car’s occupants had been flung out of the vehicle, into the road. Johnson was hit by a passing car before Lawson could pull her out of harm’s way.
"I looked down and all I saw was blood on me. All I could say was 'Momma, you're still alive?' I thought you were dead,” Lawson recalled.
For Colson, the fear settled in when she couldn’t find her daughter, Bryce, anywhere.
"I started running up and down the highway looking everywhere for her, calling her name," she said. "I didn't hear a baby crying, no baby screaming, nothing. I panicked. I thought she was gone.”
When emergency crews and firefighters arrived on the scene, they also joined the search for Bryce. 15 long minutes later, a firefighter found Bryce — safe in a drainage gate, in the medium, about 25 feet away from the scene of the crash.
No one could understand how Bryce had been flung so far and received nothing more than a scratch on her forehead, particularly considering how carefully firefighters had to hold, twist, and pull her out of the drain once she was found.
“I know it was a miracle,” Colson said.
Just days later, only Johnson remains hospitalized for her injuries. All of the other women have been deemed fit to return home.
Everyone is relieved to know their respective friends and family are safe, but none could be more relieved than Colson.
"I was just overwhelmed with joy," Colson admitted. "I started crying and thanking God for sparing my baby, for sparing us, for not taking my angel away from me. She is my miracle baby.”
