An Amish toddler was the only survivor of a Wisconsin horror crash that killed nine people after he was thrown from the van and rescued from the wreckage by a retired Marine. 

Micah Schrock, two, was found and rescued by Nathaniel Jahn who happened to be driving past the crash Friday in Clark County, Wisconsin, near the intersection of Highway 95 and County Road J. 

Jahn witnessed the van carrying nine people pull out into the intersection where it collided with a truck and trailer, killing eight people in the van and the driver of the truck.

The former Marine ran over and found Schrock lying under the truck’s wreckage, he told TMJ4: ‘I heard a whimpering sound coming from next to one of the victims, under debris. It turned into a cry.’

The toddler was the sole survivor. Ellen and Orlah Schrock and their baby daughter, Judy Rose, were killed along with van driver James McCoy, Linda Byler, 44, Lydia Byler, 24, Delilah Schrock, Suzanna Hertzler and the driver of the truck. 

A crash in Wisconsin Friday claimed the lives of eight family members, leaving a toddler as the sole survivor 

The van carrying the family pulled out into an intersection and collided with a truck 

Former Marine Nathaniel Jahn leapt into action, calling 911 and finding Schrock buried in the wreckage

Jahn had stopped at the intersection on his way to work as a land surveyor. He saw the van turning into the junction, right into the path of an oncoming semitrailer hauling milk.

‘I couldn’t fathom the van still coming out knowing the semi was right there. By the time everything happened the semi smashed into the vehicle,’ Jahn said. 

The driver tried to swerve to avoid the van but there was not even time for the person to brake, Jahn said.  

Photos of the wreckage shows the van completely crushed and rolled to the side of the road , while milk spilled out.

Jahn, who served two tours in Iraq with the Marines, sprang into action, calling 911 before rushing over to the wreckage. 

He found Schrock crying where he had been thrown from the van and pulled him to safety. 

He said there was a young woman barely alive, but that by the time he returned, there was nothing he could do to save her.

‘I want the family to know how sorry I am and that I did everything I could. There was somebody there with them. And I helped the best I could,’ Jahn said.  

Schrock was rushed to the hospital where he was met by family members from Virginia. 

Jahn later returned to the scene where mourners had erected small wooden crosses to pay their respects.  

The crash was the second deadliest in Wisconsin history. 

The van flipped over and rolled to the side of the road 

Emergency services cordoned off the junction which remained closed for hours 

Seven of the deceased were members of a remote Virginia Amish community

Seven of the victims were members of an Amish community from Burke’s Garden in Virginia. 

It is an unincorporated community with a population of just 300 people in a bowl-shaped valley at the top of a mountain known as ‘God’s thumbprint.’

The tight knit community is private and rarely leaves, but when they do – such as this trip to visit family in Wisconsin – they typically hire a person to drive them in a van. 

The people of Burke’s Garden have rallied around the families of the victims, setting up a GoFundMe to cover funeral expenses. 

Family friend Allen Gross wrote: ‘Sadly, eight precious people from the Amish community in Burke’s Garden, Va. tragically lost their lives Friday morning in an accident with a tanker truck in Wisconsin. 

‘As you can imagine the Schrock and Byler families are devastated by the terrible and unimaginable crash that took the lives of sons and daughters and grandchildren and moms and dads and cousins. 

‘Please give to these dears families who are left picking up the pieces. Yet, they have put all of their trust and Love in the Lord.’