WESTCLIFFE – Last month 6-year-old Zayden Lazear hung upside down in his car seat– trapped in the crushed metal of his mother’s wrecked vehicle.
His mother and 4-year-old sister were also trapped and they were all alone, just off Highway 96 about 10 miles east of Westcliff.
Zayden managed to free himself from his car seat, and from the balled up vehicle. He ran up the side of the highway alone and flagged down help.
The first vehicle to pass by and notice the child stopped. Zayden then led 15-year-old Gus Stanley and his 11-year-old brother Monty back to the twisted wreckage to help get his family out.
While the kids went back to the accident, Stanley’s mother called 911. The Wet Mountain Fire Department was able to get everyone safely out of the vehicle. There were no injuries to Zayden, his mother or his sister in the Sept. 12th accident.
On Thursday, Zayden was honored for his bravery and quick thinking, as was Stanley and Monty.
They were taken on a special helicopter flight around Custer County and then taken in an emergency vehicle to Tony’s Mountain Pizza for a party in their honor.
Photojournalist Carl Winder hung out with the trio on their special day.
