Teen thrown from vehicle clings to utility wires

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Joe R. Thompson III said he doesn't remember exactly how he was catapulted from his car during a traffic accident and ended up dangling from power lines for 15 to 20 minutes until he was rescued.

Thompson says all he knows for sure is that God saved his life.

Thompson, witnesses and Blue Springs police tell this story:

Monday, Thompson, 18, was driving west on Missouri 40 about two miles from his Blue Springs home in the Kansas City suburbs when a car suddenly turned in front of him. Thompson's car clipped the other car and rolled.

The fiberglass top of Thompson's Jeep Wrangler was ripped off, and Thompson flew through the air. He bounced off three power lines and fell into what he thinks was a telephone wire and grounding wire. His leg got caught in one wire and he grabbed for the other.

Suddenly, Thompson found himself holding on to the wires 25 to 30 feet above the ground.

"I just kept saying a prayer over and over," he said Tuesday from his home, where he was retelling his story to family, friends and reporters. "I just kept saying 'Lord, give me the strength to hold on.' And he did because there is no way I could have held on with my own strength."

Sgt. Ray Myers of the Blue Springs police said Thompson was "bear-hugging" the wires when help arrived.

"He had apparently snagged the lower wire, and the momentum carried him over," Myers said. "He had two wires wrapped together and he was just hanging on to them."

The wires Thompson was entangled in were insulated, so he didn't receive an electric shock. But the power lines above him had to be turned off before a ladder could be raised to rescue him.

Thompson said when he looked down from the wires, he saw that his Bible had also been thrown from the car and landed right beneath him.

The driver of the other car, Justin B. Elam of Olathe, Kan., came to check on Thompson.

"I just started saying, 'Dude, turn off my car,'" Thompson said. "He looked around at first, he couldn't find me. Then he looked up and saw me. He told me later that he had always believed in God, but this really proved it to him."

Meanwhile, his father was notified and rushed to the scene.

The father said his son was talking the entire time he hung from the wires.

"We asked him how long he could hold on, and he said, 'I can hold on as long as it takes,'" the elder Thompson said. "His arms were turning blue because it was cold, but otherwise he was fine."

When the younger Thompson was finally rescued, he was flown to a Kansas City hospital to be examined. He was released within an hour, with only bruises and scratches.