Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., praised citizens and first responders on Newsmax on Saturday for their swift actions during a near-fatal Iowa interstate crash, expressing pride in America after they helped save an 11-year-old boy.
Van Orden is credited with helping save the life of the boy, who was severely injured in a crash on Interstate 35 near Osceola, Iowa, last weekend.
Van Orden, a retired Navy SEAL and combat medic, said he and his wife were traveling to a family gathering when they came upon the scene.
"My wife and I were driving down to get together with family to celebrate the life of our oldest daughter, who died two years ago from cancer," Van Orden told "America Right Now."
"As we were passing through Osceola, we got a little south of there. There was a semi-truck on the northbound lane parked on the side of the road, and I didn't think much of it until I heard a huge boom. And I looked in my rearview mirror and saw a minivan disintegrating in real time."
Van Orden said he immediately turned his vehicle around, parked about 15 meters from the wreck, and ran to help.
"There was an 11-year-old boy who essentially had the lower half outside half of his leg removed, all of the flesh down to the bone, and a compound fracture of his forearm, and also an arterial bleed," he said. "So I was able to stop the bleeding."
Drawing on his combat medic training, Van Orden said he used socks to make constricting bands before fashioning tourniquets out of seatbelts to stop the boy's blood loss.
"That's one of the bravest young men you're ever going to meet in your entire life," Van Orden said. "He was absolutely calm, completely collected, and just a fantastic guy."
The boy's father was also at the scene. Van Orden said he later visited the child in the hospital.
"He thanked me. He said 'I wouldn't be here without you,'" Van Orden recalled. "And I said, you're welcome. And now you owe me. And this is what you owe me. You owe me to grow up and be a fantastic young man."
Van Orden said the boy is expected to make a full recovery.
"I just want to say, the way that everybody responded to that accident made me proud to be an American. That's an American thing to do," he said.
"Everybody stopped what they were doing, pulled over, and lent a hand. ... They blocked traffic. They pulled in their vehicles to stop any vehicles coming by to protect us as we're working on this young man and his mother. And it was inspirational. The firefighters, first responders, [are] just amazing, amazing Americans."
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.