An Oklahoma family was sitting on their front porch when they heard some unsettling sounds in the distance. They immediately called the police to report it, but when law enforcement arrived, they didn’t find anything. The next morning, the family couldn’t shake the feeling something was wrong out there, so they went to investigate.
It all started when nine-year-old Hudsyn Shaw spent the night with eight-year-old Zoey Mattingly, who is her friend and neighbor. Zoey’s mom, Tera Mattingly, decided to take the two girls for a ride in the car. “I knew that she liked to take drives a lot because she had mentioned that to me,” said Hudsyn’s mom, Dawn Shaw.
As they were driving along, the silence of that Sunday night was interrupted by the rumbling of a motorcycle flying down the road at high speeds. Seconds later, a loud screech pierced the air, followed by an earth-shattering crash. The Boyce family heard the noise and was sure it was a collision. And, by the sounds of things, there were likely no survivors. “We hear this loud screech, a big crash, and we knew we’d heard an accident,” Ryan Boyce said.
They called the police at about 11 p.m., but the responding officers couldn’t find any signs of a wreck. The Boyces went to bed that night, only to wake the following morning with a strong sense that someone needed their help. “My brother couldn’t shake the feeling that somebody was out there hurt, someone could be dying,” Ryan Boyce said. “He drove out here by himself and found the accident and immediately called the police.”
The family found a small flipped car located 100 feet from the road in a densely wooded area. Off in the distance, there were two bodies, later identified as Tera Mattingly and Zoey Mattingly, but the family’s work didn’t end with this tragic discovery. The Boyces called officers to come back to the scene that no one could find in the darkness the night before, and that’s when softer sounds were heard coming from the location of the wreckage.
Hudsyn Shaw had remarkably survived the massive crash and was found alert and able to talk to paramedics, who removed her from the scene and rushed her to OU Children’s Hospital in serious condition, KFOR reported. The sole survivor had sustained multiple fractures to her arm, clavicle, pelvis, back, and ankle, but she didn’t suffer any injuries to her internal organs or her brain.
Dawn Shaw had no idea what happened to her daughter until her neighbor told her that his wife and the two girls never came home. “I just immediately started praying, you know, and I was just praying that God protect her and keep her safe,” Shaw recalled.
Dawn rushed to her daughter’s side at the hospital, where she discovered that Tera and Zoey didn’t survive the crash. “She said she saw Zoey and crawled over to where Zoey was, and they found her with her arms cradling Zoey’s head,” Dawn said. “It was just devastating. I mean I just couldn’t, I just kind of broke down at that point because I just realized how lucky I was really to have her still here. Very lucky, very blessed,” she said about her daughter’s miraculous survival.
Ryan Boyce is eternally grateful that his brother spoke up and didn’t ignore the nagging feeling, prompting him to look into what he knew in his heart had happened. “They could still be laying out there, and that little girl could be dead now,” Ryan said with gratitude, thankful to have been a godsend to this little girl who may not have made it another day out there alone. “We could’ve been there at the last minutes of her saving point,” he added.
The Boyces didn’t know this family, but they still felt compelled to help. “I’m just praying for that family whoever they are, I don’t know who they are yet, but God bless you,” Ryan said.
Had it not been for this faithful family, listening to what God put heavy on their hearts, the situation could have very well ended in three lives being lost. These people were this little girl’s heroes that day. These good Samaritans know that God used them for His glory and to save this child. Her life was spared that night for a reason. She has a purpose to fulfill on this earth, and God has a plan for her.
