Alert 7-Year-Old Saves 79-Year-Old Great-Grandmother Trapped Under A Rolling Car

Mar 24, 2023

A 7-year-old girl was hailed a hero for saving her 79-year-old great-grandmother who was trapped under her rolling car during a drop-off. Mariah Galloway was clever, alert and knew what to do when her great-grandmother, Patricia Lynch, thought her SUV was already parked in front of her granddaughter's house.

Lynch often picks up her grandchild at school and does the usual drop off but that afternoon on Jan. 11, 2023, turned horrific for the family. Footage of Lynch's accident was caught on the Ring doorbell, capturing each moment of the old woman's ordeal and what her granddaughter did to save her.  

Mariah said that her grandmother thought her car was “in park” so she stepped out before realizing that it was actually "in reverse."

"So she was picking me up from school and she thought the car was in park, but it was in reverse," Mariah explained.

The vehicle started rolling with the child still inside so Lynch attempted to stop the SUV before anything else happened to the child. However, the old woman's foot and leg got stuck under the tire by the driver's side. 

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company recommends using the emergency brake whether a driver is parking on a hill or a flat surface, in good or bad weather, or in an automatic or manual transmission vehicle. The emergency brake provides stability and minimizes the chances of a rolling car but forgetting to disengage the emergency brake while driving may lead to car damage.  

The right way to use the emergency brake when parking is to engage it after pressing on the primary brakes and before placing the car in park and then turning off the engine. Before driving off to leave, start the car's engine first, step on the primary brakes, let go of the emergency brake and then shift the gears to drive. 

As soon as she saw her great-grandmother hurt, Mariah jumped into action and then took out the keys on the car's ignition that automatically stopped the car. She said it was something she saw her mom and aunts do all the time after they parked. Then the child got out and ran to her house to ring the doorbell and alert her mom, Porchia Lane. 

"I didn't know her foot was under there but I knew she could still get hurt because her body was under there," Mariah told Good Morning America. 

At first, Mariah's mom thought that her grandmother could not pull up the driveway because it was "a little hill" and she likely needed help. However, when Lane got closer, she saw shoes on the driveway and her bleeding grandmother. Mariah then grabbed some towels from the house so they could wrap them on Lynch's legs while waiting for the ambulance to arrive. 

"She really thought fast," the proud mother said of her daughter, who admitted she was feeling "scared and nervous" that whole time. But Lane was amazed that her child was paying attention to what was around her.

Lynch was taken to the Trinity Health Oakland Hospital where doctors diagnosed no fractured bones but the elderly woman needed to get stitches and a blood transfusion for the blood loss. She was discharged from the hospital after a few days and had physical therapy for her recovery.

Mariah celebrated her 8th birthday on Jan. 14, 2023, just three days after the incident. Lane gave her child a surprise sleepover party. They were supposed to go skating for her birthday but instead chose to visit Lynch, who was resting and recovering at her home. 

“She was trying to save Mariah, and here Mariah saved her,” Lane told ABC 7 Chicago. 

What a quick-thinking kid who knew how to take control! What are your thoughts about Mariah Galloway’s action to help her great-grandma? Isn’t this such an inspiring story? Pass it along to someone who might love it!