Republican Congressman Helps Save Child Injured In Car Crash
Rep. Derrick Van Orden, a Republican congressman from Wisconsin, says he will never forget what happened on a stretch of Interstate 35 in rural Iowa this last weekend.
It was enough to test the combat veteran on a day when he was already battling a family tragedy.
The retired Navy SEAL and his wife, Sarah, were driving near Osceola when he suddenly caught sight of a horrifying scene in his rearview mirror.
“I’m watching a Dodge Grand minivan disintegrate,” Van Orden recalled. “It seemed to drift off the road at about 70 miles per hour, more so on the passenger side of the car.”
The violent crash played out in his rearview mirror. His wife, Sarah, was in the car with him. “My wife, Sarah, was like, what happened? I looked at it, I said, someone just died,” Van Orden said.
Instead of continuing down the highway, Van Orden immediately pulled over. He parked in the grass median and sprinted toward the wreck to see if he could help. Years of Navy SEAL training had prepared him for emergencies, but nothing could prepare him for what he saw next.
“I ran to the passenger side, where all the damage was, and there was this 11-year-old kid, and I looked at him, and his calf, which is about as big as my thigh, was completely ripped apart, so I could see his tibia and his fibula, just a big chunk of him bleeding. And he had an arterial bleed in his right wrist.”
Realizing the boy’s life was in immediate danger, Van Orden ran back to his truck. He dug through his luggage, grabbed two socks, and raced back to improvise tourniquets. By then, he wasn’t the only one on the scene.
“By then, probably 10 people had also pulled over to help, I’m like, does somebody have a knife? And they’re like, yep. So I cut the seat belts off and then made tourniquets.”
It wasn’t just Van Orden who leapt into action. Strangers from all walks of life quickly pitched in, using whatever they could to save the boy. “Some big old Iowa farm dude, probably 60-something, rips off a windshield wiper for his arm, then another lady there said she was a medic. She wound up grabbing a piece of metal and made a tourniquet on his leg, and then all of us packed him up and got him up into the ambulance.”
The boy’s injuries were severe, and emergency crews were still minutes away. Van Orden believes the group’s fast action made the difference between life and death. “It took about 10 to 15 minutes. He would’ve bled to death. He would’ve been gone.”
For Van Orden, the experience reinforced his belief in the decency and strength of ordinary Americans. “We’re in the middle of somewhere, and this happens, and people just start showing up. They start asking, ‘Hey, can we do this? Can we do that?”
He was struck by the eagerness of strangers to step in and help without hesitation. “It’s amazing,” he said.
Later, Van Orden visited the boy at a hospital in Des Moines. The boy is expected to survive.
God works in mysterious ways.
— Derrick Van Orden (@derrickvanorden) August 19, 2025
This happened last Saturday but the story came out today, the second anniversary of our sweet daughter’s passing.
I am so thankful to have been able to make sure this young man’s father did not join the one club you never want to be in. https://t.co/NBvhbjZfjl
The congressman also revealed that the accident happened on a particularly meaningful date for him. On X, he wrote that the crash occurred on the second anniversary of his daughter’s passing.
“God works in mysterious ways,” he posted. “I am so thankful to have been able to make sure this young man’s father did not join the one club you never want to be in.”
