A stranger at a Missouri bus stop saved a 3-year-old from a pond
At a Missouri bus stop, a stranger dropping off his kids saved a 3-year-old from a pond after her family’s SUV rolled into the water.
12 November 2026
It was a Thursday morning in St. Peters, Missouri. Austin Collins was dropping his kids off at the school bus stop.
Megan Kohlhaas was there too, helping her other children onto the bus. Her 3-year-old daughter, Melody, was still in the family’s SUV.
The splash
Her kids started screaming, “The car! The car!” The SUV had rolled from the parking lot, down a hill and into a pond.
“I just saw a big ol’ splash, and immediately, everyone just ran over and took action,” Collins said.
He called 911 and jumped in. He did not know how deep the water was, so he held onto the SUV to stay afloat.
The hammer
Someone on the bank handed him a hammer. He broke a window and cut his hand on the glass.
Before he grabbed Melody, he cleared away as much glass as he could with his hand, so she would not get cut.
“Without him, we would’ve lost her,” her mother said. Melody is doing just fine.
Collins passed the credit back. “Kudos to the mom,” he said. “She definitely created that urgency early on so that we all could pull together.”
Police have not said yet why the SUV rolled. A GoFundMe is helping the family replace their car.
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