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Nearly half a year has passed since the Putman family endured the heart-wrenching loss of three loved ones in a fatal accident, yet Blake Putman vividly remembers the incident as if it were yesterday.
“The entire event is still crystal clear to me,” remarked Blake, 37, who was behind the wheel when their vehicle collided with a semi-truck in September 2025. Speaking to People on Friday, March 13, he recounted, “I recall the impact, lying on the road, and numerous scenes from inside the car.”
Reflecting on the incident, the Meet the Putmans personality shared, “The truck hit my door, and how I’m still here today, only God knows.”
Blake was at the helm of one of three vehicles transporting the Putman family, known from their 2017 TLC show Meet the Putmans, as they returned home after watching his 15-year-old son Noah’s football game. The disaster unfolded just a mile from their Caro, Michigan residence on September 26, 2025.
In light of the tragedy, the Putman family has provided an update on their injured relatives. “We aim to keep everyone informed and continue seeking prayers for Noah, Gia, and our entire family,” read a statement on Wednesday, October via the family’s Growing Up Putmans Instagram page.
Blake’s vehicle was transporting eight family members, including his parents, Bill “Papa” Putman and Barb “Neenee” Putman, his wife, Megan Putman, Blake and Megan’s son Noah and daughters Lulu, 13, and Alena, 11. Blake’s brother Brandon Putman’s daughter Gia, 11, was also in the car when the semi-truck collided with it.
Papa and Neenee, who were both 65, died in the crash, as did Blake’s wife, Megan, who was 37.
“Megan had her arms around me when he hit us, and my dad was sleeping,” Blake recalled on Friday. “My mom and dad and Megan, they died on the scene. The autopsy said that they were immediately gone. There was no saving them.”
Blake, for his part, said he suffered a “couple broken bones” in his neck as well as a broken nose and some lacerations.
The Putman Family in January 2026. Courtesy of Growing Up Putman/Instagram
Brandon, 39, and his wife, Kacie Putman, were in one of the other two cars when the accident played out in front of them. (Blake, Brandon and their other two siblings, Billy and Blair, all live in one house with their spouses and children. Their late parents also lived with them prior to their deaths.)
“There’s only one thing that could come out of my mouth, and it was, ‘Dear God, save my kids,’” Kacie told People. “He did that. He saved every one of our kids.”
While all four kids in the struck vehicle did survive, they sustained injuries. Lulu had a pelvic fracture and Alena suffered a clavicle fracture. Noah and Gia had traumatic brain injuries.
“I remember pulling Noah out of the car, and I didn’t think he’d be the same as he is,” Brandon explained of his nephew. “The way he’s bounced back and is stronger in almost every facet than he was before in a short amount of time is amazing. Gia, the same thing.”
Meet the Putmans cousins Noah and Gia are still recovering from injuries they sustained in the family’s fatal car accident. “We wanted to share an update on Noah and Gia and ask that you continue to keep them in your prayers,” a Sunday, September 28, statement on the family’s Instagram account read. “Noah is still […]
Noah spent two weeks in the ICU and underwent two months in rehab, but the family said he is now back at school, playing football and wrestling.
Gia has had a harder road after being airlifted to the hospital to undergo emergency surgery, which her father, Brandon, said saved her life.
“If she would’ve went by ambulance, she wouldn’t have made it,” Brandon revealed. “Her spleen went through her diaphragm and up into the left side of her chest. She broke her clavicle and broke her left humerus, which is not very funny — I got to throw a little bit of dad jokes in there — but it’s a miracle.”
After 10 brain surgeries and three months in the hospital, Gia returned home in January, but she still has a tracheostomy to help with breathing. (A tracheostomy is a surgically created opening in the neck that establishes an airway and ventilation, according to Mayo Clinic.)
As everyone continues to heal medically, the family said they are still navigating how to emotionally move forward from their losses.
The Putman family members have been making a name for themselves since starring on TLC’s Meet the Putmans in 2017. The reality series followed the Putman family — Bill Putman and Barbara Putman, their four children, Billy Putman, Brandon Putman, Blake Putman and Blair Putman, their respective spouses and, at the time, 15 grandchildren — […]
“Megan is my soulmate,” Blake told the outlet, noting he still refers to his late wife in the present tense. “I remember telling her that I know that heaven exists, and she kind of looked at me like, ‘Okay, why are you telling me this?’ We were holding each other in bed, and I told her, ‘Because I can’t love someone as much as I love you, and this be it.’” (The couple celebrated their 18-year anniversary just weeks before Megan’s death.)
Brandon noted that they have leaned on each other to get through the tough season.
“But this family, we circle each other, and when one person’s weak, we pick them up,” he said. “God bless my dad for having the vision to bring us together like that and to teach us these principles to live by.”
In December 2025, the driver responsible for the crash, Pavel Schukin, pleaded no contest to three counts of a moving violation causing death, which is a misdemeanor. He was sentenced to one year and jail and at the sentencing the Putman brothers gave him a Bible and forgave him.
“At the funeral, a lot of people came up to us, like, ‘Wow. To see how you guys responded to the driver by gifting him a Bible and giving him forgiveness, that strengthened my faith,’” Brandon said on Wednesday. “Well, the feeling’s mutual. That was our goal when we had our show.”