Father thankful to be alive after being pulled through storm drain: ‘It’s a God thing’

TRUSSVILLE, Ala. (WBRC/Gray News) - An Alabama father says he’s lucky to be alive after he was sucked into a storm drain during flooding. He was pulled 100 yards through the pipe but walked away with just scratches and bruising.

Rushing floodwaters in Drew Owen’s Trussville neighborhood Friday swept up a handful of his sons’ soccer balls. Wanting to be super dad, he ran out to grab them. He almost didn’t make it back.

“In 36 years, I never thought I was gonna die until that night right there,” Owen told WBRC.

In the neighborhood is a large storm drain that runs under Highway 11. As he looked for the soccer balls, Owen didn’t realize he was getting close to the ditch where the drain is located.

“Of course, I could not see anything. It was dark, and this was nothing but water. But the ball was somewhere in this area. So, I went to step to go get it, and when I did, this ditch is steep and I stumbled into the water,” Owen said.

Realizing he was in the ditch, Owen tried to get himself out of the chest deep water, but he was sucked into the drain pipe feet first. Completely underwater, he was pulled 100 yards through the pipe and under the highway.

Owen says he thought he was going to die, and the entire time he was in the drain, he was thinking about his family.

“First was that my kids weren’t gonna have a father and that my wife wasn’t gonna have her husband. Then, secondly, my dad’s funeral was the next day. I’m literally gonna die the day before his funeral,” Owen said.

Thankfully, a tree branch saved his life 45 seconds later when he was able to stop himself after coming out of the other end of the drain.

“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. It’s a God thing,” Owen said.

Just as Owen’s wife and their three sons realized he had been gone for awhile, he walked back to the house 15 minutes later. The whole family is thankful he’s still alive.

“We can’t figure out how it happened or why it happened because we’ve heard stories that didn’t end the way his did, and we are just very thankful,” Owen’s wife said.

Owen suffered scratches and is bruised on his arm, down his side and leg. His wedding ring was scratched, and he lost his shirt and shoes. Despite the scary experience, he is most thankful it wasn’t one of his kids or any of the neighborhood kids that was swept into the drain.

“What if they would have chased that ball and tried to get it? They would’ve most likely drowned,” Owen said.

Owen says he is sharing his story to bring awareness to this type of problem. He hopes the city will install some kind of grate in front of the drain pipe to prevent future issues.