Two Teen Out for a Summer Bike Ride End Up Saving Elderly Woman Trapped Outside for 16 Hours

June 12, 2026

What began with a Pop Tart, a TikTok scroll, and a call from a best friend turned into a life saving rescue for two Iowa teenagers.

KWQC News

Gunner Skidmore and Kohen Chick were enjoying a typical summer morning bike ride near Fruitland, Iowa, when something caught their attention along the roadside.

As the two friends headed toward Muscatine, Kohen spotted what appeared to be someone lying in a yard. Unsure of what they were seeing, they turned around to investigate.

"I said, 'Hey ma'am, are you OK?'" Skidmore recalled. "She was like, 'Yeah, I need help. Call 911.'"

The boys quickly realized the situation was serious.

After calling Gunner's mother, who rushed to the scene and contacted emergency responders, they learned the elderly woman had been stranded outside since around 5 p.m. the previous evening.

For more than 16 hours, she had been trapped in the heat without her phone, water, or any way to call for help.

"She didn't have her phone or water or anything. She was there for like 16-plus hours," Skidmore said.

According to the teens, the woman appeared frightened and exhausted after spending the night outdoors.

"She was like scared. You could just tell because like her face, she was covered in all these bugs and stuff," Chick said.

The woman told the boys she had fallen while feeding her horse. Unable to get help, she reportedly rolled from her backyard to the front of her property in hopes that someone might see her.

That hope paid off when two teenagers happened to ride by.

The friends believe timing was everything.

"A few more hours and she definitely like wouldn't have made it," Skidmore said.

The woman was transported to a hospital in Muscatine for medical treatment.

But the kindness didn't stop there.

While she recovers, Gunner's mother has stayed in touch with the woman's family and has been helping care for her horse by making sure it has food and water. She also plans to welcome the woman home with a homemade lasagna when she is discharged from the hospital.