FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ark. — On Saturday, 12-year-old Jordan Gardner reunited with his stepfather, Devin Gardner, a little over a month after helping save his life.
In the early morning hours of July 27, the two were traveling from their home in Shawnee, Okla., to Alabama when Devin fell asleep at the wheel, leading to a crash in Franklin County, Ark.
Devin was seriously hurt, but Jordan had only minor injuries, so he crossed nearly four lanes of interstate traffic and walked two miles until he got the attention of a Johnson County sheriff’s deputy.
“It was like an hour before they found Devin,” said Tricia Gardner, Jordan’s mom and Devin’s wife. “But they used Jordan to try and find out where he was, and he was like two, almost three miles away at another exit, and crossed over several lanes of interstate traffic.”
Since then, Devin’s been recovering at the Eugene J. Towbin Healthcare Center in North Little Rock.
It’s a veterans hospital, as Devin used to work as an Air Force mechanic stationed in Okinawa, Japan.
Over a month after the accident, staff cheered Saturday morning as Jordan and his family emerged from the elevator to meet Devin, who was waiting for them in a wheelchair.
It wasn’t the first time Devin and Jordan had seen each other since the accident, but it was the first time Devin had been well enough to get out of bed and meet him.
"It made my heart really happy that he could do all that,” Tricia said.
It was also the first time Jordan received the kind of recognition that he did.
The staff at the hospital gave him a certificate and a medal, calling him a hero.
Devin said he couldn’t agree more.
“He's a brave little boy, and I’m immensely proud of him,” Devin said. “That car flipped, and he rode through all of that. Instead of staying in there traumatized and scared to death, he got out immediately and got help.”
That’s why Jordan received praise from a group of nurses and staff, including Charlie Hogan.
Hogan is one nurse who cared for Devin and said the story touched her.
"It's an honor to care for Mr. Gardner,” Hogan said. "You know that Jordan went all that way for his dad. You could tell there was an extremely tight bond between father and son there."
Making Jordan’s journey and flagging down an officer even more incredible is the fact that the 12-year-old has autism and speech aphasia, meaning it’s sometimes tough for him to communicate.
When Jordan found the officer, he told him he thought Devin was dead, but miraculously, that wasn’t the case.
When officers located the crash, they heard Devin yelling for help.
Devin said he doesn't remember the crash, just waking up in a hospital days later.
The only thing he knows is that Jordan saved his life.
“Apparently I was lying face down on a downgrade in this tall grass,” Devin said. “You’re not going to see or notice the car from the highway. If it hadn't been for Jordan finding them and telling them, they would have never found me. Who knows, I guess somebody would have found me when I started stinking."
That's why this day was so special to Devin. He saw his stepson again and told him how much he meant to him.
Understandably, it was an emotional scene, with both Jordan and Devin breaking down into tears in Devin’s hospital room.
"He's my hero," Devin said. "He's my savior."
He later told Jordan, "We’re gonna throw the football, and I'm gonna get well, and everything's gonna be great, back to normal… and it's all because Jordan went walking."
Devin said the hospital staff has been immensely helpful in helping his recovery.
Although physical therapy has been challenging, he's now able to use his left leg a little more than he did when the car landed on him.
“I'm getting to where I can bend it,” Devin said. “I can transfer in and out of the bed, and I can transfer in and out of things that I need to. It’s just phenomenal progress, and I have the staff here to thank for that.
Tricia said Devin hopes to be out of the hospital next week.