Four-Year-Old Girl Falls Out Back Of Church Van On Arkansas Highway, Saved By Firefighter [Video]
The terrifying moment a four-year-old little girl fell out of the back of a church van was captured on the dashcam of a volunteer firefighter. Ryan Ciampoli, an emergency medical technician and volunteer firefighter, was driving behind the van when the back door opened and the little girl fell into the highway. He immediately stopped in the street and sprung into action. The girl was rushed to a nearby hospital where miraculously she only suffered from a broken jaw and the shock of the ordeal.
ABC 13 reports that the church van was traveling down Highway 65 in Harrison, Arkansas, when the incident took place. According to the report, the young girl was riding in the back of the church bus when she somehow unlocked the back door and opened it. Fortunately, trained EMT and volunteer firefighter Ryan Ciampoli was driving behind the van as the child fell out of the door into the highway.
Dashcam video shows 4-year-old girl fall out moving church bus in Arkansas; she’s expected to make a full recovery. https://t.co/73NTvK0ECP
— NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) April 24, 2017
Ciampoli’s dashcam captured the entire ordeal on video and showcased how the quick-thinking EMTs actions likely helped save the child. The harrowing video shows the van traveling down the road before the back door suddenly opening. Moments later, a small child can be seen falling from the van onto the highway pavement. Ciampoli immediately stops his vehicle and pulls over to over aide to the child.
The EMT says that the little girl initially appeared as though she was unconscious but that as he approached her tiny body she began to move. Ciampoli noted that the little girl began to kick and scream while asking “where’s my mommy?”
“The shock kicked in her little body and she started kicking and screaming. Stuff like that is really heartbreaking.”
According to local station 4029TV, the volunteer firefighter carried the girl from the road and placed her on the bed of a truck in a nearby parking lot. Ciampoli says ideally you would live the victim of an incident such as this in place but with the location of her body on the busy highway, he felt it was best to move her to a safer location. Once off the highway, the volunteer firefighter checked her vitals and ensured the child remained conscious until the ambulance arrived.
As you can see in the video, after the little girl fell from the van, the driver continued down the road seemingly unaware of what had transpired in the back of the van. As the video continues to roll, other vehicles stop but the van is not seen returning to the site of the incident. Reports do not indicate how many other children may have been on the van or when the driver realized the child was missing.
However, medical reports indicate that the child suffered only a broken jaw and is expected to fully recover. WKRG says that the little girl’s mother has spoken out about the incident and claims she is not upset with the van driver. Instead, the mother says that she is focusing on her daughter’s recovery. The little girl is expected to be released from the hospital on Monday following a jaw surgery.
Ciampoli says that the whole ordeal is proof that anything can happen at anytime.
“I saw it happening, and it blew my mind, it was like I wasn’t even seeing what I was seeing. It can happen anywhere anytime, never would you think driving down the road, that something like that would happen.”
The little girl’s name and the name of the church involved in the incident have not been released.
[Featured Image by Ryan Ciampoli/ABC13]
