[Kevin Taylor]

Kansas City Star > Wednesday, Jan 29, 2003


Metropolitan

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Posted on Wed, Jan. 29, 2003

Teen propelled to overhead wires in auto crash thanks God
By MARA ROSE WILLIAMS and LINDA MAN
The Kansas City Star

From CNN to "Good Morning, America," many people wanted to talk to Joe Ray Thompson III on Tuesday.

He just wanted to talk about God.

And about his brief, extraordinary flight through the roof of his crashing Jeep that hurled him 25 feet into the air and dangled him from utility lines for 20 minutes.

He and his family think Thompson's survival Monday night is nothing less than a miracle.

"Look at me. I'm walking around," Thompson said Tuesday. "I have a few scrapes and a bump on my head. No way that is a coincidence. This is all about God. The only thing that got me through this was my faith in God."

Three cellular phones and the house phone in Thompson's Lake Tapawingo home were ringing seemingly nonstop since 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Thompson, 18, a youth leader at First Baptist Church of Blue Springs, stayed home Tuesday from Blue Springs High School, where he is a senior, and told callers how it happened.

He said he left home Monday evening to run an errand for his father. He was about a mile from home on U.S. 40 at Woods Chapel Road when, according to police, another vehicle trying to pass on his right clipped his Jeep Wrangler.

The Jeep spun into a ditch and flipped several times. As it rolled, the fiberglass top popped off. The driver's side slammed into a utility pole.

Thompson, who wasn't wearing a seat belt, flew up more than 30 feet.

"When I came down on the power lines, I woke up," Thompson said. "I remember spinning, and the next thing I knew, I was just hanging there by my hands and feet. Upside down."

Below him was his crumpled Jeep and the Bible he carries with him everywhere.

Gene Gould, assistant fire chief of the Central Jackson County Fire Protection District, said Thompson landed in telephone cable and neutral ground wire.

"A few feet more, he would have been thrown into more powerful lines of 30,000 to 70,000 voltage," Gould said.

Justin Elam of Olathe was driving the other vehicle. After the wreck, he rushed to check on Thompson.

"He said, `Help me,' " Elam said. "It didn't sound like it came from the Jeep. I said, `Where are you?' And he said, `Look up.' "

Elam saw Thompson with his legs wrapped around the telephone cable and a ground wire.

Elam said he felt helpless, wondering whether Thompson could hold on long enough for help to arrive.

"In this situation, you can't help but smile and be thankful," Elam said. "He shouldn't be here right now, and the fact that he's injury-free is unbelievable."

Thompson's father, stepmother, two brothers and three stepsisters are sure it was a miracle.

"My brother called and said, `Your son's been in a terrible accident, the Jeep is totaled, and he is hanging on for dear life,' " Thompson's father recalled.

On his way to the scene, the elder Thompson prayed, "God, please take care of him."

At home, the rest of the family prayed on their hands and knees.

"When I saw him hanging there, I didn't know if he was dead or alive," Thompson's father said. "I was bawling. He's my oldest son. I have seen a lot of accidents. I have never seen anything like this one."

Thompson said his legs and arms went numb and turned blue from holding the wires so tight.

By helicopter, Thompson was taken to Research Medical Center, where his scrapes were treated. He soon was released.

Sitting at his kitchen table smiling Tuesday afternoon, Thompson said he couldn't wait to talk to his friends at his church group, called Reborn and Dynamically Different.

"I have definitely got a testimony," he said. "God took the worst of situations and made it good. He reminded me he's in control. Look at all the chances I have now to witness to people. I'm glad this happened."























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