Thrown from Her Car by a Tornado: The Unbelievable Survival Story of Mya Grimes
You never expect nature’s wrath to catch you off guard when you’re safely inside your car.
But for 20-year-old Mya Grimes, what began as an ordinary drive home became a terrifying encounter with an EF-3 tornado in St. Louis—one that literally hurled her from her vehicle and sent her tumbling down the street. Was it just sheer luck that saved her? Or could there be something far more mysterious guarding her life on that fateful day?
On May 16, 2025, as a powerful EF-3 tornado sliced through St. Louis, Mya Grimes, a junior at Jackson State University and lifelong St. Louis resident, found herself caught in the storm’s deadly path. Driving along Pershing Avenue, the skies darkened ominously, but the young student pressed on.
“My day started normal, but it quickly turned into something out of a nightmare,” Mya recalled in an interview with First Alert 4.
Despite worsening weather, Mya received a call from her father urging her to stop and get home immediately. “He told me, ‘No matter what, just stop and get home,’” she said.
Soon after, rain poured heavily, trees toppled, and the storm’s power intensified. Panicked, Mya called her mother, Tina Grimes, while gripping the steering wheel. Tina remembers the chilling phone call vividly.
“When she said, ‘Ma, it’s taking me, it’s taking me,’ I knew something was terribly wrong. Then the call cut off,” Tina said.
Inside the swirling tempest, Mya’s car spun violently. “I was holding on to the windshield and steering wheel, screaming ‘Jesus, Jesus,’ praying for my life,” she shared.
Suddenly, the tornado smashed through the windshield and ejected Mya from the vehicle. She was thrown nearly 40 yards down the street near the intersection of Union and Washington.
Despite her injuries, Mya’s will to survive kicked in. Crawling to the nearest light pole, she managed to flag down an ambulance. Hospitalized briefly for minor burns and cuts, she was soon released.
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In a heartfelt Instagram post the next day, Mya described her ordeal as nothing short of a miracle.
“The tornado picked me up, spun my car at least 10 times, threw me out, and my body slid 40 yards down a busy road,” she wrote. “I’m not lucky, I’m BLESSED… GOD KEPT ME.”
She urged her followers to find strength in faith, saying, “Please, get right with God. You’re not too young, too far gone, or too imperfect.”
Mya’s story is more than just a near-death experience; it’s a powerful testament to resilience, faith, and the unpredictable power of nature. While some might chalk it up to luck, Mya insists it was divine protection that saw her through.
Her survival reminds us all that even amid life’s fiercest storms—literal or metaphorical—hope, faith, and determination can be our strongest shields.