He Saw a Boy Crash His ATV on TikTok. He Was 800 Miles Away

Many parents may wish their kids didn't spend so much time on social media, but one West Virginia family is grateful for the TikTok penchant of a teen 800 miles away. On Sunday, 13-year-old Caden Cotnoir of Gilmanton, NH, was watching a livestream of Trent Jarrett, a 12-year-old Caden follows online because of their mutual interest in four-wheeling, hunting, and fishing, per WMUR. Caden, the stepson of Gilmanton's police chief, was watching Trent ride his ATV when something went amiss. Trent's phone went "kind of blank," Caden says. "You [could] see a little bit of light and you [could] just hear him yelling for help." In a video sent to NBC Boston by Caden's family, Trent can be heard struggling to breathe and begging someone to call 911.

"That was probably the hardest part, to listen to him just praying someone was there to help him," Caden says. Then the teen heard Trent yell out something else: a 10-digit number, which he shared with his mom and stepdad, Matthew Currier. It turns out that number was the phone number for Trent's grandparents; Caden's family called it and was able to track down Trent's parents, who rushed to the scene and found their son on a trail, trapped under his ATV. Trent came out of his 20-minute ordeal with some minor cuts and bruises, with Currier calling it an "Easter miracle," per WMUR. The boys "met" for the first time on Zoom on Monday, and they've been in touch several times since. "I'd just like to thank him for everything that he's done," Trent says, while Caden tells NBC he's "just happy that I could help." (More uplifting news stories.)