An Amish toddler was the sole survivor of a horror crash in Wisconsin that killed nine people after he was thrown from the van and rescued from the wreckage by a retired Marine.
Micah Schrock, two, was found and rescued by Nathaniel Jahn who happened to drive past the accident Friday in Clark County, Wisconsin, near the intersection of Highway 95 and County Road J.
Jahn witnessed the van carrying nine people drive into the intersection, where it collided with a truck and a trailer, killing eight people in the van and the driver of the truck.
The former Marine ran there and found Schrock lying under the wreckage of the truck, he said TMJ4: ‘I heard a wailing sound coming from next to one of the victims, under the rubble. It became a cry.’
The toddler was the only survivor. Ellen and Orlah Schrock and their infant daughter, Judy Rose, were killed along with van driver James McCoy, Linda Byler, 44, Lydia Byler, 24, Delilah Schrock, Suzanna Hertzler and the driver of the truck.
An accident in Wisconsin claimed the lives of eight family members on Friday, with a toddler the only survivor
The van the family was traveling in drove into an intersection and collided with a truck
Former Marine Nathaniel Jahn sprang into action, calling 911 and finding Schrock buried in the wreckage
Jahn had stopped at the intersection on his way to work as a surveyor. He saw the van drive into the intersection, straight into the path of an approaching milk semitrailer.
“I couldn’t fathom the van still coming out when I knew the semi was there. By the time everything happened, the semi crashed into the vehicle,” Jahn said.
The driver tried to swerve to avoid the van, but there wasn’t even time for the person to brake, Jahn said.
Photos of the wreck show the van was completely crushed and rolled to the side of the road, with milk pouring out.
Jahn, who had served two tours with the Marines in Iraq, sprang into action and called 911 before rushing to the wreckage.
He found Schrock crying where he had been thrown from the van and pulled him to safety.
He said a young woman was barely alive, but by the time he returned there was nothing he could do to save her.
‘I want the family to know how sorry I am and that I did everything I could. There was someone there with them. And I helped as best I could,” Jahn said.
Schrock was rushed to the hospital, where he was met by family members from Virginia.
Jahn later returned to the scene where mourners had erected small wooden crosses to pay their respects.
The crash was the second-deadliest in Wisconsin history.
The van overturned and rolled to the side of the road
Emergency services cordoned off the intersection, which remained closed for hours
Seven of the deceased were members of a remote Virginia Amish community
Seven of the victims were members of an Amish community from Burke’s Garden, Virginia.
It is an unincorporated community of just 300 residents in a bowl-shaped valley at the top of a mountain known as “God’s Fingerprint.”
The close-knit community is private and rarely goes away, but when they do, like this trip to visit family in Wisconsin, they usually hire someone to drive them in a van.
The people of Burke’s Garden have gathered around the families of the victims and a GoFundMe cover funeral costs.
Family friend Allen Gross wrote, “Sadly, eight precious people from the Amish community in Burke’s Garden, Virginia were tragically killed in a tanker truck accident in Wisconsin on Friday morning.
“As you can imagine, the Schrock and Byler families have been devastated by the terrible and unimaginable crash that took the lives of sons and daughters and grandchildren and mothers and fathers and nieces and nephews.
“Please give to these precious families who need to pick up the pieces. Yet they have placed all their trust and love in the Lord.”
