A Trussville, Alabama father was swept through a storm drain beneath a highway after attempting to retrieve his son’s soccer ball during a heavy rainstorm Friday night.
Drew Owen, 36, was pulled into a drainage pipe and traveled more than 500 feet beneath Highway 11 and railroad tracks before managing to escape, as reported [1] by The New York Post.
“In 36 years, I never thought I was gonna die until that night right there,” Owen told WBRC.
The incident occurred during a period of torrential rain. Owen said he saw the soccer balls floating out of his yard and ran to retrieve them. He described the scene as dark and chaotic, with floodwaters covering the ground.
As he stepped toward a steep ditch to reach the ball, he lost his footing.
“It was dark, and this was nothing but water. But the ball was somewhere in this area,” Owen said, pointing to the area near the drainage pipe.
Owen was immediately pulled into the water and down the pipe, unable to grab air before being submerged.
“The water was flowing so hard, and that whole pipe was nothing but water. So I could not breathe or anything,” he told WBRC.
“I didn’t have time to… gasp for air when it happened. It happened so fast.”
He described being completely disoriented as he was swept through the underground pipe. At one point, he feared he wouldn’t make it out alive.
“I was just praying that it was going to drop at some point soon, because I didn’t know if it was, the pipe was going all the way down Highway 11, or it was going to drop two minutes from now,” Owen told WVTM 13.
“I honestly was saying my goodbyes.”
Owen said he thought of his children and wife during the ordeal and was struck by the timing. His father’s funeral was scheduled for the next day.
“My dad’s funeral was the next day. I’m literally gonna die the day before his funeral,” he said.
Eventually, he was ejected from the pipe and managed to stop himself by grabbing a tree branch.
“I came out, and the water was still flowing. But I was able to grab a tree branch. It wasn’t a very big tree branch, and I’m a big guy, so I don’t know how it didn’t snap,” Owen told WBRC.
“It’s a God thing.”
Owen lost his shoes and shirt during the incident. His wedding ring was damaged, and he suffered scrapes and bruises on his arms, side, and leg. Despite the injuries, he emphasized his relief that it was him and not one of his children or another neighborhood child.
“What if they would have chased that ball and tried to get it,” Owen said. “They would’ve most likely drowned.”
Authorities have not released additional information regarding the condition of the drain pipe or whether further safety measures will be taken in the area.