FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ark. — Jordan Gardner and his stepdad Devin Gardner were on their way from Shawnee, Oklahoma, to Alabama to visit family when the unthinkable happened on I-40 in Franklin County.
"They had stopped at a convenience store, and he was FaceTiming me. They just got snacks, and they were just having so much fun," said Tricia Gardner, Jordan's mom and Devin's wife.
However, Tricia got nervous after she was awoken to three calls from police around 6 a.m.
"He was asking me if I had a son that had blonde hair. And I was like, 'Yes, sir.' Then he's like, 'Is he 12?' And I was like, 'yes.' And I started to get frantic a little bit, but I was trying to stay calm," Tricia recounted.
Deputy James Graves with the Johnson County Sheriff's Office responded to a call of a boy who was walking on the interstate near the Altus exit on I-40. The call happened in Franklin County, but he responded due to it being a public safety issue.
Jordan is 12 years old with autism and speech aphasia. He was on the interstate trying to flag a car down because Devin had crashed the car they were driving in.
"He was he was frantic, to say the least, the boy, he had some communication issues, and it took us a minute to get out of them," Graves said. "I guess he didn't realize how far he had walked, because when we asked him where to point to where the vehicle was, he pointed directly across the interstate."
"Luckily, Jordan knew his mother's cell phone number," Graves continued. "I asked 'what condition was your dad in?' And he said, 'dead.' And I was not expecting that. And I was expecting him to say, you know, he's bleeding everywhere, or something like that."
While Graves talked to Jordan, Deputy Kendal Smith started searching for the crash. After some driving around, he found Devin with significant injuries two miles away from where they found Jordan.
"As soon as I came to a stop, I heard a scream for help. I'm like, okay he's not dead. He's alive. Some relief hit me," Smith said.
He could tell Devin's injuries were significant and rushed EMS to the scene.
"The back windshield was busted out; the trunk was smashed open. The entire driver's side was just destroyed, like it was just a tangled mess," Smith said. "The fact that the kid crawled out, got out of the vehicle, and that the dad was still alive, was a miracle. Nothing short."
Jordan walked away with minimal injuries and is now a hero in the eyes of his family and the officers that came to their rescue.
"He was injured, walked across four lanes of interstate traffic at nighttime and started flagging vehicles down," Graves said. "Two miles at night, this kid is brave man, there's that's all there is to it."
"From the get-go, this kid thought his dad was dead, and still was trying as darned as can be to get help and get somebody out there," Smith added. "[Devin asked] 'How'd you find me?' I'm like, well, your son crossed all the entire interstate and was flagging vehicles down, so that prompted us to come out."
Graves said this is something that will stick with him and gives him drive for his job.
"You go in and once you see everything, you expect the worst, and when it comes out to be really good, and the fact that he's projected to make a full recovery," Graves said. "I’ll remember, this for a very long time."
After weeks in the hospital, Devin still has a long road to recovery. As of Aug. 7, Tricia says he's set to leave the hospital and move into an acute rehabilitation facility in the coming days.
Watch 5NEWS on YouTube.
Download the 5NEWS app on your smartphone:
Stream 5NEWS 24/7 on the 5+ app: How to watch the 5+ app on your streaming device
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com and detail which story you're referring to.