Infant who 'died' in Miami car accident brought back to life — twice: 'Higher power involved here'

Eight-month-old Ryder Lockwood is safely back on his mother's arms after his two miraculous recoveries from a car accident in this screenshot from an ABC 30 TV footage.(ABC 30 screenshot)

An eight-month old baby made two miraculous recoveries after a car accident, the Miami Herald reported.

Ryder Lockwood was with his mother and two other siblings when their car traversing Highway 198 in Visalia, Miami suddenly veered off and hit a tree, causing it to overturn.

The incident was witnessed by a man who identified himself as Tony Calvillo who said he saw the vehicle veer off the highway with a mother and her three children inside. He called 911 and approached the scene, the report said.

He then helped 5-year-old Preston crawl out of the wreck before using a hunting knife he had purchased earlier that day to shatter a window and pull Ryder out of the back seat. But Ryder stopped crying and turned cold and stiff.

Calvillo, a volunteer pilot for the Tulare County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue Team, knew then and there that Ryder was dead. He tried to revive him using his right hand to start light compressions on the baby's chest.

Around that time, an unidentified man in his 20s also arrived and helped Calvillo pull out Ms. Lockwood and two-year-old Aubreanna.

After about 30 seconds of chest compressions, Ryder came back to life.

Mike Spicer, a retired California Highway Patrol (CHP) Officer, meanwhile, was listening to a sermon about people possessed by the Holy Spirit while he was driving his truck on Highway 198. He stopped his truck when he noticed an overturned vehicle that had struck a tree.

When he approached the wreck, Calvillo handed him Ryder, who became motionless again.

The 61-year-old Hanford, California man said he had seen many dead bodies over 27 years in the CHP and was sure that the infant was gone. He laid Ryder on the floor of his truck and started light compressions on the baby's chest. Within a minute, Ryder started to moan and open his eyes, then cried.

"We had the chills come up our spines," Cavillo told the Miami Herald. "I don't know how to explain it, but I'm telling you. There was a higher power involved here."

"That was unbelievable and a miracle," Spicer said.

Ryder was smiling and laughing before he arrived at the hospital where doctors said he was healthy and suffered no complications from the crash, Miami Herald reported.

The others involved in the crash – Ryder's mother, Brittany Lockwood, and two young siblings – only received some scratches and bruises.

Ryder's grandmother, Jody Perryman of Tulare, thanked the men for what they did. "It's hard to put into words how thankful we all are that so many strangers stopped to help."

"We will be forever grateful to Mike and Tony for saving Ryder's life and helping the rest of my family."