Hero rescues teen brothers from flipped car in water-filled ditch

By Trae Harris and Hannah Mose

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    MIDLAND CO., Michigan (WNEM) — A roadside hero rescued two Midland County teens from their car after it crashed upside down in a water-filled ditch.

The teenage brothers, Noah and Isaac Gola, had been on their way to school in Shepherd last Thursday when bad road conditions led to a crash, their car flipping upside down in a ditch.

“This wasn’t just any ordinary ditch. This ditch is like, 15 to 18 feet deep. It’s huge. And to see the water, running inside of this vehicle and my boys trapped,” said Midland County resident Jennifer Gola.

Gola was describing one of the worst phone calls she’s ever received.

Her two sons were trapped upside down in a drainage ditch. Their car was filling fast with ice-cold water and they had no way to get out.

“He called and said, ‘Mom, I was just in a car accident. We are OK, but I’m upside down in a ditch,’” Gola recounted.

Noah said once he noticed the car was filling up with water, he knew they needed to get out as quickly as possible.

That was when Jacob Keller, who was on his way to work, saw the crash.

He grabbed a sledgehammer from his vehicle, smashed the back window, and got the boys out, keeping them warm until police and the boys’ mother arrived.

“Just worried about getting the kids out of the car and making sure everybody was OK,” Keller said.

For their mom, Keller’s quick-thinking was a birthday gift she’ll never forget.

“I could look at it a couple of different ways. I could say I had the worst birthday ever, or I can say I had the best birthday I could possibly have ever had because I have my two kids,” Gola said.

Keller, a humble soul, is just happy he was at the right place at the right time, never expecting so much as a thank you.

“What else can you do? I did what I had to do to help and get the kids out of a bad situation,” Keller said.

Gola’s thankfulness brought her to tears.

“There’s nothing I can do that would be able to repay him for what he gave me back. My boys are my everything and my world,” she said.

Grateful for everything Keller did for her sons, her family will be taking Keller to Logan’s Steakhouse on Saturday as a thank you.

“It’s a blessing that I will be able to at least do something kind of nice to repay him for what he’s been able to let me have,” Gola said.

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