US

Utah students save mother and toddler trapped under car – with video showing dramatic rescue

Utah students save mother and toddler trapped under car - with video showing dramatic rescue

A group of students saved a woman and her toddler son after they became trapped under a car – with the dramatic rescue caught on video.

The woman, her three-year-old daughter and son aged two had been hit by the vehicle in the car park of Layton Christian Academy in Utah.

While the daughter managed to free herself, the mother and son were stuck under the vehicle, a witness told NBC affiliate KSL.

Chris Crowder, the school’s associate pastor and CEO, said he heard screaming and he saw the woman and boy “underneath the car pinned”.

More than 20 students then rushed to help, with CCTV footage showing them running out of school buildings and surrounding the car before lifting it.

Dominique Childress, who was picking his children up from the academy when the situation unfolded, then pulled the mother and son to safety.

Mr Childress said the boy’s face was “purple” but he was still breathing.

Read more from Sky News:
What happened after Hamas left the Nova festival site
Urgent search for toddler who was snatched in street
Hugh Grant thanked for £20k donation to ‘Britain’s kindest plumber’

Image:
Bridgette Ponson with her partner and children

A GoFundMe page set up to help pay the family’s medical costs identifies the mother as Bridgette Ponson, who works in the school’s admissions office.

The two-year-old was airlifted to hospital, while his mother and sister were taken via ambulance.

Both children are now back at home and have not suffered serious injuries, while Ms Ponson has had surgery, school officials said.

They were hit by a driver who had been temporarily blinded by sunlight, it was reported.

Mr Childress has hailed the students who rushed to help as “the purest form of the word hero”.

“They deserve every single bit of praise and worship that they’ve had because what they did was not easy for a teenager to do,” he said.