'You're The Hero Of My Life': Man Jumps Into Canal To Save Mother And 3 Children

February 18, 2026

A Florida mother is recovering and counting her blessings after a terrifying crash sent her car into a canal—an accident that could have ended very differently if not for a stranger who refused to keep driving.

WPBF / MARTIN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE

Shyeniqua Wilkins was behind the wheel on February 8 when she suffered a seizure, causing her car to veer off the road and plunge into the water. Her three children were in the vehicle with her.

With Wilkins unconscious, her 8-year-old daughter did everything she could to protect her younger siblings, holding them above water and screaming for help.

That help came from Casey Curtis, a driver who had been on the same road. He saw the crash happen in his rearview mirror and immediately turned around.

Curtis jumped into the canal, helped the three children out of the vehicle and onto dry land, then went back to assist Wilkins, holding her head above water until first responders arrived.

Days later, as Wilkins recovered in the hospital, she was able to thank the man she now calls her hero in person.

“I’m so thankful and grateful for you. I know it’s because of you and God,” she told Curtis. “You don’t want to be a hero, but hey, I’m sorry—you’re the hero of my life. I just thank God for you now.”

Looking back on what happened, Wilkins believes the timing of Curtis being there made all the difference.

“Just think, if he would have never turned around… Me and my kids would not be breathing right now,” she said.

Wilkins spent several days in intensive care but is now on the road to recovery. Thankfully, all three of her children are safe as well.

The experience has also had a profound spiritual impact on her.

“I’ve always been a believer in God, but I have stopped going to church and stopped talking to him,” she said. “So, this right here has just opened that back up for me… Everybody doesn’t get a second chance at life, and he gave that to me and my kids.”

Wilkins says Curtis is no longer just the man who stopped to help—he’s now considered part of the family.