David Fredericksen, a professional truck driver, was driving down the I-10 Freeway in Gulfport, Mississippi, when he saw a Lincoln Town Car driver fail to yield when merging onto the highway’s 70-mph traffic. The automobile was struck by an 18-wheeler, smashing into the truck’s gas tank, much to his distress.
When flames blazed over the roadway, a fireball formed and black smoke started to stream from the collision. He simply got a glimpse of the grill of a vehicle that seemed to be heading the other way, Fredericksen remembered. There was a massive explosion, and then the road, the vehicle, everything caught fire.”
Walter Letterman, Frederickson’s colleague, exclaimed that the individual is no longer alive. Frederick feared that Letterman was correct. Yet he had no choice but to act. Fredericksen grabbed his fire extinguisher and hurried towards the horrible highway collision, scared of what he would see after parking his truck a safe distance away.
Fredericksen tried to extinguish the flames when he arrived at the wreckage. As he got out of the vehicle and he pushed the pin [of his fire extinguisher], he immediately instantly began praying to God to please don’t let him have to deal with someone halfway burnt alive, screaming, or having to see kids in here. He didn’t want to witness anything like that. His first thought was that they were dead, which Fredericksen acknowledged.
But he was mistaken. Something drew Fredericksen’s attention as he tackled the flames. He saw this tiny head come out of the rear glass and instantly thought, ‘Wow, they’re alive!” he told. There was a woman who was 51 years old and a child, who turned out to be the mother’s grandchild.
As they opened the door, Fredericksen noticed a 1-year-old young girl in the back seat. He realized time was running out as he attempted to help pull the door open. He could hear the metal bending. He is a very big person, and you can see in the video that he is trying quite hard to pull it open, he said.
A frantic Fredericksen prayed for the release of the lady and her grandchild. He implored God for supernatural intervention once again, and suddenly a miracle occurred.
Several motorists arrived to assist, and the door eventually burst open. Then, in the back seat, he saw the tiny head come up again, and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed some more people coming up, and so he reached into the back seat and grabbed the young girl. She grabbed him around the neck as he reached in, Fredericksen said. She was overjoyed when she got her out of there.
Relieved, he took the youngster to safety while others assisted in the rescue, including the toddler’s grandmother as well. And it all happened just in time. They pulled them both out of the vehicle, and it simply caught fire, Letterman recalled. Nothing but the burned metal remained.
He does not know how they all made it through it, a distraught Scott Swanson, the guy driving the vehicle involved in the collision, said. Yet, survival was not the only miracle that occurred that day. Because of Fredericksen’s quick thinking, the unnamed lady and child received only minor injuries, according to authorities. But it isn’t all.
The trucker not only saved the day, but he also escaped relatively unhurt. He didn’t burn his hands since the vehicle was on fire. It wasn’t hot, Fredericksen said, adding that he feels God intervened, allowing him to assist in the rescue of the two victims.
If he had been twenty seconds sooner, he would have been down the road. It would have been him if she had struck him 10 seconds sooner. He has never met the individual, but he is grateful he was able to assist her that day, according to Fredericksen. It felt unreal that they were all OK, he continued. He honestly didn’t believe anybody could survive it.
David Fredericksen is ready and prepared to be used by God again as he traverses the country’s roadways. When one witnesses something like this, one doesn’t have a choice, Fredericksen said. The miraculous occurs all the time if one has a connection with God, he added.
God places individuals exactly where they need to be. That young child—God had a purpose for her, and that’s why He protected her that day, Fredericksen said, before adding that it just reassures him that if God needs him and puts him in front of someone who needs his help, he will help them. All one has to do is listen to God.
