Firefighters have credited "divine intervention" for the miraculous survival of an 8-month-old infant who was ejected during a car crash and ended up in a storm drain, 25-feet away, with a mere scratch on her forehead.
According to CNN affiliate KSLA, on Friday night, a truck sideswiped a car on Interstate 30 in Texarkana, Arkansas, which led to little Bryce Hale's ejection.
The vehicle, holding a family of five, flipped over and after the crash, survivors could not find the little girl.
"I started running up and down the highway looking everywhere for her, calling her name," the infant's mother, Jakesia Colson told KSLA. "I didn't hear a baby crying, no baby screaming, nothing. I panicked. I thought she was gone. It was the worst 15 minutes of my life, trying to look for her."
However, first responders heard a small noise near a patch of hay in the center divider, and found the child inside a storm drain.
"The baby ... was sitting up and looking up at us waiting for us to pull her out," Texarkana firefighter Josh Moore said, later adding, "There had to be some kind of divine intervention for her to end up being OK."
Authorities told the outlet the little girl rolled down a hill and into the drain, and it took three firefighters to get her out. Despite the traumatizing experience, the infant suffered one minor injury - a tiny scratch to the forehead. Additionally, all others were released from the hospital soon after, except for the driver, who is still recovering from the crash.
"So many times, we go out and things aren't OK...and just during the holidays here to have a positive just feels good," fellow rescuer Texarkana Fire Capt. Charlie Smith said.
Bryce's mother agreed: "I know it was a miracle," she said. "The way they had to pull her out of the drain. They couldn't just pull her out. They had to turn her head a certain way and turn her body a certain way to get her out. She was just sitting there looking up waiting for them to come get her."
According to Fox Insider, police determined that the child's car seat was not properly secured at the time of the crash, but no one was charged. The driver of the truck that allegedly sideswiped the family vehicle, however, was cited for an improper and unsafe lane change, according to KSLA.
