Truck driver thankful after crash sent her dangling off bridge: 'God has me here for a reason'
A truck driver is praising God for sparing her life after the tractor-trailer she was driving dangled from a bridge following a multi-car collision.
Viral dashcam footage of the accident shows the four-vehicle crash, which took place on March 1 on the Clark Memorial Bridge in Louisville, Kentucky.
The incident began when Trevor W. Branham, 33, lost control of his vehicle, crossing into the opposite lanes and initiating a chain-reaction crash. His vehicle collided with another car, which subsequently struck Sydney Thomas' semi-truck, local station WDRB reported.
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The impact sent Thomas and the cab of her truck careening off the bridge, dangling over the Ohio River. Trapped inside, the 26-year-old driver remained remarkably uninjured.
Reflecting on her ordeal, Thomas shared in an interview with WHAS-TV her belief that divine intervention played a role in her rescue.
"Sometimes you pray, and I'm guilty of this: I pray, and I don't think God is listening," she said. "But He was that day."
Marc Thomas, Sydney's father, also said he believes in the miraculous nature of her survival. He recounted the moment he saw his daughter's truck hanging off the bridge, realizing the gravity of the situation.
"It didn't really hit me until I looked over to my right [while crossing the Kennedy Bridge] and I'd seen that equipment hanging into the air," he told WHAS-TV. "That [rescue] was nothing but God displaying himself to me."
As the truck dangled 100 feet above the Ohio River, Thomas said she remained motionless, fearing any movement might cause the vehicle to plunge into the water below.
"I sat there and I just started praying," she said.
For 40 minutes, firefighters worked tirelessly to reach Thomas. Bryce Carden, a Louisville firefighter, eventually descended from a crane, harnessed, to reach Thomas. In a poignant moment, he asked if he could pray with her, and together they sought divine intervention, she said.
"She was praying a lot," Carden told WHAS-TV. "And I prayed with her."
Their prayers were answered when Thomas was safely lifted from the truck.
Thomas said she has no intention of crossing the Clark Memorial Bridge again but remains deeply thankful for her survival. She vowed to live without fear, embracing her belief that God has a purpose for her.
"God has me here for a reason and I have to fulfill my purpose in life," she said. "And I can't let something like that stop me from doing what I'm supposed to do for Him, because He brought me out of it."
"He doesn't want me to … live in fear the rest of my life," she added.
In the aftermath of the crash, Branham was arrested and charged with four counts of wanton endangerment and one count of operating on a suspended license. He is reportedly scheduled to appear in court in June.
Nicole VanDyke is a reporter for The Christian Post.
