Dad survives car crash, what daughter, 5, says after leaves him speechless

After surviving a horror car accident that left him in a wheelchair, it takes a lot to surprise Brandon Burkham, but he was left speechless by his 5-year-old daughter’s comment following the collision.

On May 23, 2026, Burkham’s life was turned upside down by a drunk driver swerving into his lane. The 40-year-old father from Saint Paul, Minnesota, was driving home with his daughter in the back seat when the other car, driving on the wrong side of the road, hit them head on.

“Officers were quickly on scene after they heard the collision and grabbed my daughter out first and began making sure she was okay,” Burkham told Newsweek. “Blood was dripping down my face, and one officer was helping free my entire left side of my body from the wreckage of what was left of my truck and they were able to pull me out of the window.”

Burkham sustained a broken hip, broken sternum, five broken ribs, five facial fractures, and a broken clavicle and hematoma in his left leg. Upon arriving at the hospital, he was immediately taken to surgery where he had a plate fitted to stabilize his sternum.

As for his daughter Nova, she is “very aware” of what happened. She talks about the incident almost daily, whenever something or someone reminds her of the collision.

Burkham was visited in the hospital by his wife and Nova every day, and there was one specific comment his daughter said that will always stay with him. While he was being wheeled along the hospital corridors, Nova turned to her dad and said she would just “pretend the car accident never happened.” Indeed, she would even roleplay and pretend her dad was still at home, just like any other regular day.

As a result of his daughter’s precious comment, Burkham told Newsweek that he felt like “the luckiest man on earth.”

He said: “My kids and wife are the light and everything that is good in me. We still get to play pretend together and it’s almost her way of pushing us both through this. Pretending this never happened so that we don’t get stuck and can continue to live for the only things that matter. Her statement was her way of telling her daddy that we got this, today, tomorrow, forever.”

Having his daughter there to support him has meant the world to Burkham, as she is his “biggest fan.” She has shown just how brave and resilient she is capable of being throughout this experience, and she continues to inspire her dad to get stronger with every passing day.

Burkham now uses a wheelchair, and his wife has become his full-time carer during the recovery process. He will soon begin physical therapy in hopes of healing his broken hip, although he cannot start that until he has recovered from surgery. He has been documenting his experience on TikTok (@gypsyandnasty) to show the reality of surviving a car accident, and to urge others not to get behind the wheel after drinking.

Burkham’s life has changed forever, but with his family around him, he knows he will get through this.

“Those moments could have been my last with my daughter. Those brief seconds it took for someone to swerve and jump lanes could have taken my world away from me. Emergency professionals onsite were not expecting to pull out anyone still breathing from the wreckage, and I just ask that people be aware of the risks of driving while drunk,” Burkham said.

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