Iowa County, Iowa – U.S. Congressman Derek Van Orden is being recognized for his heroic actions after saving an 11-year-old boy from a devastating crash on Interstate 35 in Iowa over the weekend.
In an exclusive interview, the Republican Wisconsin Congressman reflected on the intense, emotional moments after witnessing the aftermath of the crash.
Rep. Van Orden and his wife were driving through Iowa on their way to a memorial for their late daughter, who passed away two years ago, when they came across the horrific scene.
“We were going down to view family to celebrate the life of our daughter. We just got past Osceola in Iowa and there’s a semi truck parked northbound trying to re-enter the Freeway. I looked in the mirror and I saw essentially a minivan disintegrated. It hit the back of the semi going 70 miles an hour,” he said.
Instinct took over.
“So I turned around in the grass median, and stopped several meters away from the truck I didn’t know if it was gonna blow or not,” he said.
Inside the wreckage, Van Orden found a badly injured child in the passenger seat.
“There was this young man who was hurt,” he said. “I ran back to our vehicle, grabbed two pairs of socks from my suitcase, and went back. I tightened them into a constricting band. It wasn’t enough material, but it slowed the bleeding. More and more people started showing up. They were so awesome. I’m so proud of them.”
He eventually fashioned a tourniquet using seatbelts with the help of bystanders, “Somebody handed me a carbon knife. I cut the sheets into long pieces to make a proper tourniquet for the arm. That had to happen.”
Van Orden, a retired Navy SEAL and combat medic, emphasized how severe the injuries were.
“It was essentially a war wound a rapid motion injury. It looked like a blast or high missile injury,” he said.
Then, the help began to pour in.
“A woman showed up and said she was a medic. She went over and started caring for the driver. Then firefighters, paramedics, police, sheriffs, and even a game warden showed up all total professionals.”
But what moved Van Orden the most was the reaction of everyday people.
“This is why I love America,” he said. “I’m trying to crank down the tourniquet on this young guy’s leg and someone behind me goes, ‘We gotta start doing traffic control.’ I turned around it wasn’t police. It was just an average Midwesterner. They stopped traffic. They used their cars to protect us. Everyone just acted. It was really great.”
Later, Van Orden and his wife visited the boy in the hospital.
“He recognized me right away and said, ‘Thank you very much. I wouldn’t be here without you,’” Van Orden recalled. “I said, ‘You’re welcome. Now you owe me you gotta grow up and be fine man.’ That kid is 11 years old and one of the greatest people I’ve ever met.”
The congressman added that someone literally had to hold up the roof of the mangled vehicle to free the boy.
“I told him, ‘I’m a combat medic, I’ve seen injuries like this, and you’re gonna be OK. Everything’s gonna be just fine.’ He asked, ‘When’s the pain gonna stop?’ and I just said, ‘Soon.’”
Authorities later revealed the crash involved a suspected drunk driver.
“The driver of the van,” Van Orden said. “It’s terrible. I think they just drifted off, not paying attention. The destruction to that vehicle, and the fact that neither one of them died… it’s a miracle.”
Despite the tragedy, Van Orden focused his praise on the community’s response.
Just as the interview wrapped, Van Orden received a text from the boy’s father and gave us a live update.
“Wait a minute I just checked in with his dad this morning. I just got this,” he said. “He says his son has come a long way and is making great progress in therapy. The boy says hi, and says I’m a big motivation. Everything is wiggling and working.”
