Dozen Strangers Save 3 Teens Trapped in Upside-Down Car

When James Durant saw a silver Chevrolet Impala forced off Interstate 10 and flip multiple times into a culvert on March 6, he didn't hesitate. He jumped into the water and yanked open the car door with such force his father couldn't believe his strength.

Inside the upside-down sedan, high school senior Mariah Gill and her two younger brothers were trapped as water began filling the car. "I could hear my brothers screaming, 'Water is coming in,' and trying to kick something open," Gill remembered.

James Durant wasn't alone for long. His father J.D., their coworker Missy Pearson, and at least a dozen other drivers pulled over to help. "It was 10 or 15 cars that pulled off, and everybody was in the water," J.D. Durant said.

The rescuers worked together to free the boys first, then formed a human chain to pull Gill from the wreckage. Pearson helped the injured brothers to a truck and made the difficult call to their mother, Marie Garside, who had no idea if her children were alive.

"The lady told me the car is 100% gone, that it's in the canal," Garside said. "I said, 'Are they alive?' She said, 'Yes, they're all alive, but you need to get here.'"

Witnesses reported that a red Kia Soul had been weaving through traffic before forcing Gill's car off the road and speeding away. The Mississippi Highway Patrol is investigating and has obtained security footage of the suspect vehicle.

Sunny's Take

For J.D. Durant, a father and grandfather, the hardest part wasn't the rescue itself. It was watching Gill's parents arrive at the scene, pale with shock at seeing their children in such trauma.

But Pearson found something powerful in the chaos. "When we left, I felt like my faith in humanity was restored because it was all kind of people out there," she said. "Everybody came together as one for those kids."

All three siblings survived thanks to strangers who chose to stop when it mattered most.