MUSKEGON, Mich. — In the early hours of New Years Day, a young family survived a horrific accident along the lakeshore.
"For something that went so fast, looking back, it felt like it lasted forever," said Nate Ayers.
Days later, Nate and his wife, Kathleen, searched for a couple who had stopped to help them; a couple they called their 'guardian angels.' On Tuesday night, 13 ON YOUR SIDE was there as the families reunited for the first time since the accident.
Just before 1:30 a.m. New Years Day, the Ayers family was nearly home from a family get-together when they were hit head-on by a truck traveling in the wrong direction on Seaway Drive just before Hoyt Street. In the back seat was their 11-week-old daughter, Gwen, and 3-year-old son, Gideon.
"I didn't hear any crying, and I didn't hear any screaming," said Nate, "so as a parent, you immediately think that either everything's fine or nothing is fine, and we need to find out."
"It was one of the biggest reliefs of my life to open that back door and have my toddler look at me and ask what happened," he added.
In what they call a miracle, none of them were seriously hurt, including the driver of the truck. Kathleen Ayers could barely even talk she thought back to that night, with tears filling her eyes as she started to think back.
"I think the emotion has a lot to do with what could have happened," said Nate Ayers.
But for the young family, they said it was two strangers that made all the difference that night. Strangers they called 'angels.'
"That's exactly what they are," said Kathleen.
Catherine Kloska and David Sumner, from Norton Shores, were coming home from a New Years Eve party when they came across the terrible scene, just moments after the crash.
"I saw lights pointed in a funny direction, and smoke," said Sumner. "It looked really bad, and we weren't really sure what we were going to walk up on."
That's when they saw the panicked family sitting on the side of the road. Beside them was their destroyed 2014 Nissan Murano.
"It's just a natural instinct to go and help somebody that might be needing help," said Kloska.
"And having our own kids and grandkids too, it really brings it full circle," Sumner added.
While Nate Ayers spoke to police, Kloska sat with Kathleen, and took Gwen, the young baby, into her arms.
"I started rubbing her head and rocking her back and forth," Kloska said, "and she ended up falling back asleep."
When thinking back to that moment, Kathleen was overcome with emotion. "I could tell she was a mom," she said, with tears in her eyes. "I just felt calm and not worry with them there."
Catherine and David waited there until the Ayers' family could arrive.
"He (David) also went to the car and got a blanket so we could wrap them up to keep them warm," Kloska said.
Just days after the accident, Kathleen posted to Facebook, hoping to track down the couple, not knowing anything but their first names.
"For something so wonderful for them to do in such a bad time," Kathleen said, "I just needed to say thank you."
And through the power of social media, they found David and Catherine. On Tuesday night, the two families reunited for the first time since the accident.
"It was heartwarming," Kloska said with a smile on her face, "ad I'm hoping maybe in a few months we can all go get ice cream and see the kids progress in growing."
According to police reports, there is suspicion that the driver of the truck was under the influence of drugs. But for this group, seeing each other again healthy and happy was all that mattered.
"That was the best end to the new year," said Sumner, "just knowing that they were all okay."
Riley Mack contributed to this story.
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