Young family moving from St. Louis to Kentucky loses almost everything after car catches fire
By Web Staff
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ST. LOUIS, Missouri (KMOV) — A North County mother is praising two Good Samaritans for helping save her family’s lives after their car burst into flames Monday.
Jasma Steed has a 4-year-old and a 6-year-old and said she was sick of the gun violence in St. Louis and wanted to give her boys a better life. Steed said she landed a job in Kentucky where her friend lives. Monday, she loaded up almost everything they own into her car and started the drive toward Lexington, Kentucky.
“The drive was going fine, the boys were in the car we were listening to music,” Steed said.
Steed and her two sons were on Highway 64, about 20 minutes from their destination when her car started smoking. She said panic set in as her two young boys wondered what was wrong.
“Tried to start it up but it was getting extremely hot in the car and I tried putting the air on and smoke was coming into the car and my son was like ‘mommy turn the air off it’s smoking in the car,’” Steed said.
Moments later, Steed said a man driving the opposite way made a U-turn, got out and helped her pull her boys out of the car. Seconds later she said the car, and everything she owned inside, burst into flames.
“I was just screaming. I didn’t know what to do I couldn’t breath,” Steed said. “I was just thinking about their stuff and now we don’t have anything.”
At the time, a woman named Terry Entwistle was driving from St. Louis through Kentucky to Ohio to visit her daughter. Her motherly instinct was to stop after seeing Steed in distress.
“I came over and put my arms around her and gave her a hug and said it’s going to be okay,” Entwistle said. “She said everything I own is in there and I said it’s going to be okay.”
Steed said Entwistle sat in the back of the police car and sang to her boys as she figured out what to do next. Eventually, Entwistle drove Steed and her son’s to their final destination – Steed’s friend’s house in Lexington, Kentucky. Steed and her sons are now back in St. Louis, staying on an air mattress in her grandmother’s one bedroom apartment.
Steed’s job with Amazon in Kentucky is on hold. She’s still without a car and has minimal clothing for her two sons. But while she has next to nothing, she is grateful to have her boys – what matters most.
“I promise I am going to try and live out my life and just help others the way you guys did for me and my boys,” Steed said. “I love you guys and we really appreciate it.”
If you feel compelled to help Steed and her two sons – a GoFundMe page has been created to help them get back on their feet.
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