Angela Chelette thought her son was dead when a deputy showed up at her doorstep in Addis, Louisiana, at 3:30 a.m. and told her to quickly get to Our Lady of the Lake hospital. Her son, Ryan Reech, 21, just had a car accident.
Randy and Renee Gautreaux thought the same thing after they called 911 for the young man who fell asleep behind the wheel, ran off LA 308 near Thibodaux, Louisiana, flipped twice in the air, and landed in a tree in the Gautreauxs’ yard on Oct. 24.
“The cop had told me that he was investigating a fatality, because when he left the scene, the cops thought that he was dead,” Renee said.
But, after 10 staples mended a gash on his head, Ryan eventually pulled through.
His mother believes Ryan would have been dead if not for the expedient reaction by the Gautreauxs, the first responders, and the trauma team at the hospital.
The Gautreauxs immediately called 911 when they heard the crash from their bedroom, the police arrived within three minutes, and Ryan was airlifted to the hospital.
“My son could have bled to death, and it’s just a miracle that he’s alive,” Chelette said. “I owe them everything. I owe them my life. They will forever be in our family.”
The Gautreauxs were getting daily updates on Ryan’s condition and Renee Gautreax also started an online group to pray for him. Three weeks after the accident they finally visited him at the hospital.
“I never met y'all before,” Reech said sitting in his hospital bed. “This is just a lot to take in. People that don’t even know me saved my life.”
He spent almost a month in hospitals in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, but finally made it home in time for Thanksgiving as well as his Nov. 25 birthday.
Chellete told The Epoch Times she keeps in close contact with the Gautreauxs.
She also said the accident was a lesson for Ryan.
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