Firefighter Lays Next To Child Car Crash Victim, Plays 'Happy Feet' To Keep Him Calm

September 8, 2015

A mother and her five young children were in an SUV that veered off the highway and flipped several times in D'Iberville, Mississippi on Saturday afternoon. First responders arrived to the scene to find three of the passengers ejected from the vehicle.

When firefighter Casey Lessard saw an injured, panicked child, he did his best to calm him down by lying beside him in the road and playing clips of the movie "Happy Feet."

Credit: AP

Lessard said he wanted to "take the bad out of the situation" and found the first movie that popped up on Netflix.

"He went from crying to instantly calm," fire captain Darren Peterson told the Sun Herald.

In addition to the first responders, Rick Camarena, a retired Los Angeles firefighter, and two sisters, 15-year-old Mady Bogolin and 20-year-old Morgan Bogolin, stopped to help.

As for the family's current status:

"The two youngest children, Jaxon and KK, were pulled from the overturned car with no scratches. Gabriel, Avianna, Todd, and Vanessa (the mother) were ejected from the vehicle. Gabriel was taken to Oschner's in New Orleans and had several wounds stitched up. Avianna and Todd are currently at USA Women's and Children's in critical condition. Vanessa broke several bones including her spine, was operated on, and took her first steps."