Wisconsin Congressman, Ex-Navy SEAL Saves Severely Injured Boy After Iowa Crash

Wisconsin Congressman Derrick Van Orden, a retired Navy SEAL and combat medic, played a critical role in saving an 11-year-old boy’s life after a severe crash on Interstate 35 near Osceola, Iowa. Van Orden witnessed a minivan collide with a parked semi-truck and immediately stopped to provide aid, using socks from his luggage to create makeshift tourniquets for the boy’s severe leg and arm injuries. Other motorists and bystanders also joined in, using windshield wipers and car jacks as improvised splints and tourniquets, highlighting a collective effort to stabilize the child before paramedics arrived. The boy and his mother were airlifted to a hospital in Des Moines, where the boy is now in stable condition, and Van Orden later visited him. Van Orden described the scene as horrific and praised the quick actions of everyone involved, saying the response embodied "everything that I love about America." The rapid intervention was crucial, as paramedics were still miles away and the boy would have bled to death without immediate help.