Indiana
Doctors fight to save Indiana woman’s legs after she was trapped in car for six days
Doctors are fighting to save the legs of a woman who was trapped in her car for six days after crashing into a ditch in Indiana.
Brieonna Cassell, 41, was stuck inside her Ford Taurus for six days after her car wrecked into the ditch off a rural road in Newton County, Indiana.
After surviving the harrowing ordeal, the mother of three began treatment at the Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois.
When she arrived at the hospital, she had compound fractures and infections in both of her legs and a compound fracture in one of her wrists.
Cassell underwent surgery on Wednesday afternoon. Doctors are waiting to see if her infections are going to heal before they continue with further treatment and surgeries. If the infections in her legs do not heal, then doctors may be forced to amputate them.
Police believed she fell asleep behind the wheel of her black 2008 Ford Taurus and veered off the road while driving near the small town of Brook, approximately 80 miles south of Chicago.
Cassell crashed into a “very big, deep ditch” that couldn’t be seen from the road, her father, Delmar Caldwell, told ABC7 Chicago. He added that passersby couldn’t hear her cries for help from their cars.
“She was in excruciating pain. She was screaming out for help. She could hear cars going by, but they couldn’t see her from the road,” her father said.
The crash pinned her legs inside the vehicle and kept her from moving, but Cassell was resourceful and found a way to keep herself alive despite being immobilized.
To avoid dying of dehydration, Cassell put her vehicle in neutral, allowing it to slide further into the ditch, where she could then whip her cardigan out of her window to soak in the muddy waters around her car. She then sucked the liquid from her garment.
“She put the car in reverse and let it roll back down the bank to the water, so she could reach out,” Aaron Cassell, her husband, told WGN9. “She could only reach out with one arm to reach the water and then let it soak up in there and pull up and suck the water out of the hood.”
After six days, an equipment operator named Johnny Martinez spotted Cassell’s vehicle and reported it to his immediate supervisor, Jeremy Vanderwell, who is also the volunteer fire chief of the nearby town, Morocco.
Martinez and Vanderwall investigated the vehicle and found Cassel conscious. They then called for medical assistance. First responders provided initial treatment at the scene and then handed Cassell off to a life-flight helicopter.
Cassell’s family has set up a GoFundMe page to help the woman cover her medical bills. Lexie Cassell, Brieonna’s 23-year-old daughter, said her mother does not have health insurance. The fundraiser has brought in $13,000 of its $25,000 goal.
Three men were seriously injured in a house explosion Friday night in Hebron, Indiana.
Lake County Sheriff’s officials said the explosion happened around 6:15 p.m. at a home in the 4200 block of West 181st Avenue. The house was completely engulfed in flames, and the fire spread to a nearby farm field.
Two men, ages 49 and 39, were taken to the hospital in serious condition with burn injuries. A third man, 64, was taken to the hospital in serious condition with other injuries from the explosion.
Sheriff’s officials said it appeared the men were working to clean out the home at the time.
Lake County Sheriff’s officials, the Indiana State Fire Marshal, the Porter County Bomb Squad, and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms were investigating the cause of the blast.
Indiana
IU basketball recruit Trent Sisley returning to Indiana to play in Chipotle Nationals at HSE
Trent Sisley highlights: Watch new Indiana basketball commit in action
The former Heritage Hills basketball star, who is finishing at Montverde Academy in Florida, is among the top-100 players in the 2025 recruiting class
Trent Sisley is returning to play basketball in Central Indiana early next month.
Sisley, an Indiana recruit, will participate in the Chipotle Nationals with his Montverde Academy (Fla.) team from April 2-5 at Hamilton Southeastern. There are 10 boys teams and four girls teams set to play in the event, which is in its 16th year overall but moved to Central Indiana for the first time last year at Brownsburg.
Sisley’s Montverde team is seeded seventh and will play in the first game of the event against No. 10 Dynamic (Texas) at 6:15 p.m. on April 2. The winner of that game will play the No. 2 seed Link (Mo.) in a quarterfinal at 4 p.m. on April 3.
All 10 boys teams are ranked in the top 10 in the country by ESPN and three of the girls teams are ranked in the top 10. Ten games in the tournament will be available across ESPN platforms, including the boys championship on ESPN at noon on April 5. The girls championship will air on ESPN2 at 10 a.m. on April 5.
The tournament will showcase 41 boys players ranked nationally by ESPN and 19 girls’ players.
A closer look at the teams:
Boys
No. 1 Christopher Columbus (Fla.)
Ranked players: No. 3 senior Cameron Boozer (Duke), No. 16 senior Cayden Boozer (Duke), No. 8 junior Caleb Gaskins, No. 13 junior Jaxon Richardson
No. 2 Link Academy (Mo.)
Ranked players: No. 6 senior Chris Cenac Jr. (Houston), No. 42 senior Jerry Easter (USC), No. 46 senior Davion Hannah (Alabama), No. 60 senior A’mare Bynum (Ohio State), No. 65 senior John Clark (Texas)
No. 3 Long Island Lutheran (N.Y.)
Ranked players: No. 32 senior Kiyan Anthony (Syracuse), No. 40 senior Kayden Mingo (Penn State), No. 54 senior Nigel James (Marquette); No. 11 junior Dylan Mingo; No. 15 sophomore Moussa Kamissoko
No. 4 Brewster Academy (N.H.)
Ranked players: No. 38 Dwayne Aristode (Arizona); No. 42 junior Sebastian Wilkins
No. 5 CIA Bella Vista (Ariz.)
Ranked players: No. 90 senior Jaion Pitt; No. 37 junior Miles Sadler; No. 4 sophomore Paul Osaruyi
No. 6 Prolific Prep (Calif.)
Ranked players: No. 2 senior Darryn Peterson (Kansas), No. 28 senior Niko Bundalo (Washington), No. 8 sophomore Gabe Nesmith, No. 9 sophomore Obinna Ekezie
No. 7 Montverde Academy (Fla.).
Ranked players: No. 26 senior Cornelius Ingram Jr. (Florida); No. 39 senior Hudson Greer (Creighton), No. 41 senior Dante Allen (Villanova); No. 59 senior Trent Sisley (Indiana); No. 16 junior Kayden Allen; No. 21 sophomore King Gibson
No. 8 IMG Academy (Fla.)
Ranked players: No. 5 senior Darius Acuff, Jr. (Arkansas), No. 29 senior Sadiq White (Syracuse), No. 84 senior Kareem Stagg (Georgia); No. 47 junior Chase Foster, No. 53 junior Felipe Quinones, No. 54 junior Jermal Jones
No. 9 Wasatch Academy (Utah)
Ranked players: No. 13 senior Isiah Harwell (Houston); No. 55 junior Katrelle Harmon
No. 10 Dynamic Prep (Texas)
Ranked players: No. 37 senior Jaden Toombs, (SMU), No. 100 senior Jermaine O’Neal Jr. (SMU); No. 3 sophomore Marcus Spears Jr., No. 6 sophomore Ryan Hampton
Girls
No. 2 Montverde Academy (Fla).
Ranked Players: No. 4 senior Agot Makeer (South Carolina), No. 5 senior Aaliyah Crump (Texas), No. 45 senior Holland Harris (Clemson), No. 51 senior Lourdes Da Silva Costa (Alabama); No. 1 junior Saniyah Hall, No. 35 junior Melissa Odom; No. 13 sophomore Jayla Forbes
No. 4 Westtown School (Penn.)
Ranked players: No. 4 sophomore Jordyn Palmer; No. 15 sophomore Jessie Moses
No. 6 IMG Academy (Fla.)
Ranked players: No. 14 senior Deniya Prawl (Tennessee), No. 16 senior Lara Somfai (Stanford), No. 27 senior Kelis Fisher (UConn); No. 28 senior Nylah Wilson (Auburn), No. 61 senior Manuella Alves-Fernandez (Illinois); No. 19 junior Kelsi Andrews
Faith Family Academy (Texas)
Ranked players: No. 97 senior Joy Egbuna (Alabama); No. 17 junior Amari Byles, No. 49 junior Amayah Garcia; No. 18 sophomore Finley Chastain
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.
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