Teenage girl’s miraculous survival of horror crash that saw her break her neck after car rolled multiple times

A teenage girl has miraculously survived a car accident that left her nearly paralyzed.

Aleah Orr, a 16-year-old from Rigby, Idaho, was on her way to the Mike Walker Boat Dock to go fishing on May 12, her mother’s birthday and Mother’s Day, when she collided with a guardrail.

“She missed her turn and her (GPS) maps beeped and said she missed her turn and she looked at her maps,” her mother Sarah said Eastern Idaho News.

“The next thing she knew, she hit the guardrail – and the speed limit there is 55, so it’s high speed – and (her car flipped) about 50 feet… she landed three feet from the river.”

Without the way her seat was positioned during the crash, Aleah could have remained paralyzed.

“She missed her turn and her (GPS) maps beeped and said she missed her turn and was looking at her maps,” her mother told East Idaho News

The impact flattened Aleah’s chair, causing her to tilt slightly to the right. Pinned against the backseat, her neck and head straining against the back of the backseat. She was pinned to a section of the car with her seatbelt still fastened while the loose headrest lay next to her.

‘She couldn’t get out. She said that was the scariest part,” Sarah said. “She screamed for help and tried to get up, but she couldn’t get up.”

A couple riding behind Sarah saw the dust cloud on the other side of the guardrail. They stopped, discovered Aleah’s car in the ravine and immediately called 911.

Sarah, whose emergency contact was at Aleah, first received notice of the crash through a notification on her phone.

Her mother, a firefighter and paramedic herself, called several times and received no response. Then she got in her car, called 911 and drove to the boat dock.

“(Dispatch) said there was a report of a crash,” Sarah recalled. ‘My first question was: was it one or two cars? And my second question was: is she in the river? They determined that this was not the case.’

A woman at the scene called her mother and assured her that Aleah was awake and able to communicate.

The calm demeanor of the woman’s voice made it seem like it wasn’t that serious, Sarah said. When she saw the reality of the situation, she couldn’t believe her daughter was still alive.

“She was very calm, which made me think, OK, it’s not that bad, but when I got there and saw the condition of the car, my heart skipped a beat,” she said. “I’ve seen fewer accidents that cause more damage or kill people.”

Firefighters pulled Aleah from the wreckage while holding her c-spine, a maneuver that keeps that head still during the rescue process and prevents damage to the spinal cord.

Without the way her seat was positioned during the crash, Aleah could have remained paralyzed

A couple riding behind Sarah saw the dust cloud on the other side of the guardrail. They stopped, discovered Aleah’s car in the ravine and immediately called 911.

“I think it was a blessing that she was stuck in the car because of her injury,” Sarah said. ‘If she had stood up, at worst she could have caused more damage or ultimately paralyzed herself.’

The crash left her with several injuries, including a broken neck, a damaged left vertebral artery, a lung contusion, lacerations to the head and a broken left hand. She was rushed to a nearby hospital before being airlifted to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake to undergo surgery with a specialist.

Sarah said: ‘Anything to do with the cervix, the higher the rupture, the worse the possible consequences of being paralyzed, not being able to breathe, being on a ventilator for the rest of your life, type of thing.

‘At the first imaging, the doctor said, ‘She is so lucky. (There are) maybe some bruises to her spinal cord and that’s why her limbs are weak at the moment.”

Surgery saved Aleah’s ability to walk by realigning her vertebral artery. Four vertebrae in her neck were fused with pins, stabilizing her spine. Remarkably, she was walking just two days later and was released from hospital on Friday.

In addition to Aleah’s injury, she and her family have also overcome several obstacles.

The past year and a half have been a whirlwind of loss for the Orr family. Sarah’s husband died, followed by the death of her husband’s best friend (practically an uncle to her children) and a beloved cousin.

Aleah said she believes all the loved ones she lost were there to protect her during the wreck.

“Aleah says her cousin took the wheel and said, ‘Hang on, cousin,’ and her dad wrapped her in his wings and kept her safe,” Sarah said. “She said she prayed before anyone came and after she finished praying, she knew everything would be okay.”

She suffered multiple injuries. including a broken neck at C-4 and C-5, a damaged left vertebral artery, a lung contusion, lacerations to the head and a broken left hand

Surgery saved Aleah’s ability to walk by realigning her vertebral artery. Four vertebrae in her neck were fused with pins, stabilizing her spine

Remarkably, Aleah was walking just two days later and was released from hospital on Friday.

Sarah said she is incredibly grateful for the outpouring of love and support from her community during these difficult times.

“It’s amazing how much support you really have when things go bad, and I appreciate that,” she said.

a GoFundMe was set up to help cover Aleah’s medical costs.