A 50-pound, 8-year-old boy lifted a 6,000-pound car off his father last June, saving his dad’s life; but he didn’t do it alone. J.T. Parker claimed he had help from angels.
Stephen Parker was working on a car with the help of his sons J.T. and 17-year-old Mason. Stephen and Mason worked together to jack up the car before Stephen slid under it to remove the axles.
“The one axle came off pretty easily … but the other side wasn’t coming off,” Stephen said.
Mason had returned to the house to bandage a cut on his hand, leaving J.T. alone with his father.
That’s when tragedy struck
Stephen’s attempt to move the remaining axle caused the 6,000-pound Toyota Prius to fall on top of him, trapping and crushing him against the ground.
“I yelled to J.T. on the other side of the car, ‘Jack it up quick! Jack it up quick!'” Stephen told EastIdahoNews.com. “I couldn’t move at all. I was totally trapped, and then I passed out. It was all in his hands, and I thought, ‘This is it. There’s no way he can jack this car up,’ because it took my [17-year-old] son and I both to get it jacked up the first time.”
J.T. began jumping on the jack in an attempt to lift the car. It took him 15 minutes to get the car off his father. He then ran to get his brother, who called 911.
While on the phone with the dispatcher, Mason could be heard begging his father to keep breathing.
“I know it hurts but you gotta do it,” Mason said. “Breathe … Breathe … Breathe.”
“I can’t,” Stephen responded.
Stephen’s wife returned, shocked to find her husband on the ground and her son on the phone with 911.
“When I got there, I saw my husband underneath a car,” Jodi said. “My heart just sank, and I didn’t know what to expect.”
Jodi joined in begging Stephen to stay awake and to keep breathing. They both asked Stephen to look at their eyes, but Stephen seemed to be seeing someone who had passed away.
“My sister … ” Stephen whimpered.
“Hey, Hey, Hey. Don’t look at your sister; look at me,” Mason can be heard saying in the 911 call.
Four minutes after the call began, sirens could be heard
Stephen was airlifted to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in critical condition.
After several MRIs and EKGs, 13 broken ribs were discovered as Stephen’s only injuries.
“That’s all they found. Nothing internal was damaged. It was just a miracle,” Stephen said.
He went home two days later
At home, Stephen and Jodi recorded a video of J.T. trying to jack up the car again, but he was unable to accomplish it a second time.
J.T. claims that angels gave him the strength to lift the car; and Stephen believes he knows which angels helped his son.
“We believe my grandpa, who passed on, and my sister who died were helping him,” Stephen said.
In recognition of J.T.’s amazing act of heroism, the American Red Cross of Greater Idaho awarded J.T. one of 11 “East Idaho Real Hero” awards.
