USC Cheerleader searching for man who helped her at car accident

[DJP]

I thought this was a good story.

http://www.wltx.com/story/sports/nca...****/70690214/

COLUMBIA, SC (WLTX)- Last summer a University of South Carolina freshman was just weeks away from fulfilling her dream of cheering for the Gamecocks when a horrible accident changed her life.

When Jessie ******* made the team her freshman year, she says all her dreams had come true.

She was driving to practice early on August 4th when she fell asleep at the wheel. Her car flipped off a bridge and crashed upside down on the highway below.

"Those couple of minutes are what I remember, what I'm going to remember for the rest of my life," she said.

She would also remember the minutes to follow.

"Within seconds, a guy was at my window. And thankfully my window was down, he reached in, and held my hand and prayed with me," she said. "And I just kept screaming 'help me Lord, please help me get through this.' And he just held my hand. all I wanted to do was take off my seat belt, that's all I really wanted."

But the man wouldn't let her touch the seat belt.

"I remember him holding my hands and just saying don't, don't do that," she said. "I found out later that if I had taken off my seat belt I definitely would have been paralyzed for the rest of my life."

******* says once emergency responders arrived to airlift her to the hospital the man vanished from the scene and from her life.

His information is not in any of the reports, his face isn't in any of the pictures, and she never got his name.

"That guy, he saved my life," ******* said. "I have't been able to contact him, I've tried, I've called EMS services, I've called the police, trying to get his name just to say thank you, you're the reason I'm walking, you're the reason I'm going to be able to live out my dream, and eventually cheer again and do everything I've always wanted to do."

She says she'll never give up looking for him, and until she learns his real name, she'll continue to refer to him as her guardian angel.

"I do have this picture in my head of what he looks like and our conversation and everything," she said. "He's somebody I will never forget. Even if I never speak to him again, I will never forget him. I will never forget the impact he had on my entire life. I honestly think that he's a gift from God."

And now that the broken bones have healed, the bruises have gone, and scars from multiple surgeries have faded, she is back to chasing her dream.

Thanks to the comfort of a stranger she may never see again, ******* is once again standing with her team, taller than ever.

"I was 3 weeks away from it. Everything I had ever wanted was to stand in that field and look around and see 80 thousand people," she said. "That's just everything to me. So I can't wait for that day to come."

That day may be soon.Jessie is now attending practices again and is working with the University's athletic trainers.

She says she hopes to finally be standing on that football field cheering on the gamecocks this upcoming season.

If you have any information about who Jessie's mystery hero is, contact us.

[CUduckreeper]

In this messed up world we live in, it's nice to read good news every once in a while.

[SCswampCAT]

There are good people out there it seems.

[MorningWoody]

Wow this made my day, there is still good left in this world.

[Saltydog235]

Sounds like it may not have been a man holding her hand but something much better. Angels among us.

I hope she lives her dream.

[Mars Bluff]

Ok ,I got chills. Good stuff.

[gobblinfever]

Sure is good to hear stories like this.

[Stumpknocker]

Sounds like it may not have been a man holding her hand but something much better. Angels among us.

I hope she lives her dream.

first thing that came to my mind, if she wants to find "him" she can look up and close her eyes

[buzzards luck]

awesome story! hope she realizes it might be the Lord that was holding her hand!

[Mergie Master]

Sounds like it may not have been a man holding her hand but something much better. Angels among us.

My thoughts exactly. Reminds me of who exactly it was that called out "Help us" to those 4 rescuers in Utah the other week. They all 4 heard an adult voice call from the submerged car. They heard it so clearly they yelled in answer to it, yet the only adult in it had been dead a long time and the baby was unconscious. The rescuers said the call was what inspired them to keep going. It got their adrenaline up and made them capable of pushing themselves harder. So hard they all had to be treated for exhaustion and hypothermia.

We don't know everything and we can't answer all questions.

[shhmitty]

I remember this crash it happened in Lugoff. She drove off the side of I-20 on the west bound side and ended up in the median of HWY 601, she had already been flown out by the time I drove by. Good news being reported for once.

[beanhunter]

About six years ago my brother and I were sitting at the light in front the Carolina coliseum. We watched a good looking girl cross the intersection and I made a remark. Me and my brother gave it a laugh and then we watched her fly through the air as she had been struck by a car that ran the red light.

My brother bailed out the window and was to her by the time I had it in park and got out. He had me hold her head and neck. I watched as the contusion on her head grew rapidly. My brother was doing vitals and telling the dispatcher things. Fd and end showed in no time. I watched as they taped my hands to her and we moved her to ambulance on the stretcher. I had blood her blood all over me. They gave me the blood /acid rinse down at the back of my brothers fire truck. Never met the girl or saw her again but I talked to her while all this was going on and can tell you I have no idea what I said but can only hope it was comforting. Blake said I did good under pressure. He sees crazy stuff all the time being in the fd. I won't forget that day.

[Featherduster]

My sis is a paramedic. I'm greatful for people who do that type work, cause I couldn't do it. I suppose if in a situation the adrenaline would take over and I could do what I gotta do,,, but damn I dread that day.

[deerslayerjohn]

Sounds like it may not have been a man holding her hand but something much better. Angels among us.

I hope she lives her dream.

X2 I believe that there angels among use.

[willyworm]

Glad to hear she made it out of that accident alive, much less able to cheer again.

In my line of work we have some 9-1-1 centers in my client base. I'm going to spend some time with theses folks later this month. I'm looking forward to being able to tell them how much we appreciate their ability to stay calm and collected when that phone rings.

Good job Bean.

[smitch320]

That's crazy. Hope she fulfills her dream. A fella that I go to church with had some sort of diesease growing up and was bed ridden and could not walk by the end of it. He said a "doctor" would come in and check on him and help him through therapy. He eventually regained strength enough to walk and eventually overcame the diesease. He asked the hospital staff if that doctor would be returning and they all told him they did not know who he was talking about because there was no doctor by that name that worked at the hospital. To this day he tells that story to people that are on to fence with religion. He believes 100% that it was not really a "doctor" helping him through that.