From a Terrible Tragedy… A Story of Hope, Courage and Heroism
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On July 19th, traveling to the Cal Ripken regional playoff in Tennessee, four brothers, Mason (14), Braiden (11), Ethan (9) and Jackson (6) along with mom (Jennifer Wilder) and dad (Brian Wilder.)
At approximately mile marker 189 on the Florida Turnpike traveling at 70 mph, the back tire blew out and the car flipped 6 times by witnesses traveling behind.
Braiden was ejected out back window on the second roll and witnessed the car flipping four more times with his whole family in it.
Mason saw his brother, who was covered in blood and seriously injured, pick himself up off the highway and make his way to safety. He managed to get himself out of his seatbelt and out of the vehicle which landed upside down to help Braiden.
When he got to Braiden, he helped make sure he was safe from traffic and handed him a t-shirt to apply pressure to his chin to slow the bleeding while he went back to help his other brothers and his mom and dad.
He managed to free his youngest brother (Jackson) who was still hanging upside down. He couldn’t get any doors to open so he carried him through a window and helped both Jackson and Ethan over to where Braiden was, removing their shirts, which were covered in glass.
While Mason was helping Braiden to safety, Ethan had managed to get himself out of his seatbelt.
Smelling gas and seeing sparks coming from the front by the engine, he went back to try and help is mother and father. His mom was hanging upside down with eyes open and a blank stare, not responding and his dad was bleeding profusely from two open gashes on his arm and a crushed hand. He encouraged his dad to get out while he was trying to see if his mom was still alive.
Brian (dad) climbed out a small opening left from the crushed roof and window. Mason found a pillow that had been thrown from the car and took off the pillowcase. Using a pocket knife he’d gotten from a recent trip to the mountains, he cut it into strips to use as a turnicate for his Dad’s arm while a passerby helped to try and get his mom out.
Mason also managed to call 911 and his grandmother in Palm Beach county.
The closest paramedics were over 30 miles away and sources say that it took nearly 2 hours to get the family to the hospitals.
Ultimately, Braiden was brought by trauma hawk to St Marys hospital in Palm Beach county and the rest of the family to Raulerson Hospital in Okeechobee
The family was on their way to the final regionals for Ethan in Tennessee when the accident occurred. Three of the 4 boys were selected for baseball all stars in 3 different leagues. All 3 were on winning teams of the local tournaments, 3 won district, 2 qualified to go to regionals championships.
Braiden broke his wrist and his jaw in 3 places and will most likely need future surgeries. He is still in ICU. Jennifer had a cracked sternum and broken hand and is still under observation but was able to see Braiden on Wednesday afternoon for the first time. Brian broke his arm and shattered his hand. The surgeons are unclear what the permanent damage will be.
