Good Samaritan Comforts Teen Trapped in Overturned Vehicle: ‘There Are Still Good People in This World’

A good Samaritan found a teenager trapped in his overturned car in a creek bed off of a Missouri highway and comforted him until first responders arrived on the scene.

17-year-old Bryson Sutton was returning home from work late at night on Saturday when he fell asleep on Highway DD in O’Fallon, Missouri, according to KMOV.

“I’m pretty sure I dosed off or fell asleep because the next thing I remember after that is I woke up and I was flipping over and then I just stopped all of a sudden,” he told KMOV. 

An accident report from Missouri State Highway Patrol states that Sutton’s vehicle crossed over the center of the roadway before striking a guardrail. The car continued forward and crashed into an embankment, according to the report. 

ICYMI: A story about following your gut instincts and being a good human. @KMOV https://t.co/sa8mwWUTcH

— Caroline Hecker (@carolinehecker) November 4, 2021

“It landed on its side so I was up in the air and I couldn’t get out of the car,” Sutton told KMOV. 

Bryson’s mother, Vanessa told KMOV, “I knew something was wrong.”

She had been tracking Bryson’s car with a cell phone app and noticed her son suddenly stopped driving as his speedometer registered 0 miles per hour, according to the outlet.

“I could see where the car had stopped so I got in the car and came down here and I wasn’t sure if he was dead or alive,” she told KMOV. 

Karin Orf was driving by the scene with her daughter after attempting to see the Northern Lights at a nearby park, according to KMOV. 

“We’re driving home and ran over a bunch of stuff right here in the road and kept driving, but I was like what did I just run over?” Orf told the outlet. “It was just so much stuff in the road.”

“My daughter said to me, ‘what if?’ and that we should turn around because something didn’t look right,” she told the outlet. “So I pulled a U-turn and we put the car in park and the flashers on.”

Karin and her daughter could hear Bryson’s pleas for help when they exited their vehicle. 

“I could hear Bryson yelling for help, just yelling at the top of his lungs for anybody and I was like, ‘oh my gosh,’ and my daughter saw a light down in the creek and I was like, ‘I have to go, I’m going down,'” Orf recalled to KMOV. 

Orf found Bryson trapped in his car, which was situated on its passenger side. 

“He was hanging by his seatbelt in the air and I couldn’t get him out,” Orf told KMOV. “So I told him to stay still and had my daughter call 911.”

She stayed with Bryson and comforted him while they waited for first responders to arrive. 

Got a good one for ya tonight. A St. Charles County teen is reuniting with the Good Samaritan who found him trapped in his overturned car in a ditch off Highway DD. He crashed after falling asleep behind the wheel on his way home from work. Good people still exist. @KMOV pic.twitter.com/hRY2esTMIV

— Caroline Hecker (@carolinehecker) November 3, 2021

“She stayed with me, talked to me, told me everything was going to be okay, she comforted me a lot and I’m really appreciative that she was there,” Sutton told the outlet. 

Bryson’s parents arrived on the scene shortly after Orf found Sutton, as did first responders, according to KMOV. Firefighters were able to remove Sutton through the windshield of the vehicle.

Vanessa Sutton was especially grateful for Orf’s actions on Saturday.

“For someone to take the time in the middle of the night to go in the woods, down in this creek and just be with my son, it means the world,” Vanessa told KMOV. “For her to put herself in danger, it really shows there are still good people in this world.”