Neighbors who helped pull 4-year-old from crash reflect on tragic accident scene

By Leslie Aguilar

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    EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, Missouri (KCTV) — The Missouri Highway Patrol is continuing to investigate a Friday night crash that left a 6-year-old girl dead, injured a 4-year-old boy, and put three adults in the ICU.

Meanwhile, neighbors who were first on the scene to help in the aftermath of the crash are struggling to deal with what they saw.

People who live on Seybold Road say speeding is frequent there, because it’s so close to Excelsior Springs City limits.

It’s not uncommon to see cars going over the 25 mile per hour limit heading out of town.

But what Owen Siegal witnessed around 7 p.m. Friday is uncommon.

“I was sitting at the kitchen window, just sitting there and I heard squealing, he said. “And then I just saw this car. This car was just flying. And he came over [the hill] and saw the truck parked on the side of the road, and tried to swerve out of the way, and lost control and started spinning and slammed into the truck.”

Siegal said it was a black Ford Focus that struck his neighbors truck parked in the street. As the car spun away from the impact, he could see the passengers inside the vehicle slumped over.

“As soon as they hit the truck, I saw that they were just completely knocked out,” he said.

Siegal called for his dad, Matt Siegal, and the two men sprinted after the car which rolled across the street, and between two barns towards a deep pond in a field.

“They were all unconscious when we got there,” Matt Siegal said.

A brush pile stopped the vehicle from going in the water.

Matt Siegal said two men were in the front seats of the car, a young woman was in the back seat behind the driver, a little girl in the middle back seat, and a boy in the back seat on the passenger side of the car.

“The little boy was in a car seat. The little girl was seat belted in. But I didn’t see seatbelts on any others,” Matt Siegal said.

Matt and Owen Siegal were frantic over how to help.

“We couldn’t get a hold of 911. I tried to call 911, and they kept saying ‘oh we’re going to put you on hold’. So I just put the phone down, and the neighbors finally got a hold of the police officers,” Matt Siegal said.

Matt and Owen Siegal started trying to open the doors of the vehicle, but couldn’t. They ran back to their house to get crow bars, and went to work with those.

“By that time the little boy had come to and he was crying. So we were really trying to work to get him out,” Matt Siegal said.

First responders arrived shortly after that. Police first, then firemen and paramedics.

“Paramedics got there and they asked me to come help bag one of them. The ventilator bag. I was helping him with that, and the young girl came to then and was just kind of was crying,” Matt Siegal said.

The one passenger who never woke up was the 6-year-old girl pronounced dead on the scene. A haunting image Matt says no one who saw will ever be able to forget.

“I feel sorry for the family,” he said. “I can’t imagine what they’re going through. Because it was … I just can’t get that vision out of my head.”

It turns out matt knew family members of those in the car, but couldn’t tell who anyone in the car was at the time because of all the blood.

He now has a new, heightened respect for paramedics.

“I didn’t get the man’s name but the main paramedic, he was just commanding everybody. They were something when they were in action. I’m telling you, if you ever know anybody who survives a wreck, it’s because of the paramedics. Because they were right on top of things,” he said.

Family told KCTV5 Saturday the 4-year-old boy had a concussion and broken bones, but is expected to be okay.

The 24-year-old driver, and 18-year-old man and woman are all hospitalized with serious injuries.

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