SLIDELL - A teenager's quick thinking and bravery helped save her family and their horse after a terrifying crash on a rural road.

Mia Gilpin, 14, says it's by the grace of God, that they're only applying medicine to her horse Whiskey's wounds and not saying goodbye.

"I think we're very, very lucky that God protected him and protected my family and had his hand on us," Mia said.

Around 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 18, the Gilpin family was headed back home from a rodeo competition in Mississippi when a white pickup hit them on I-59 near Slidell, causing them to fly off the road and the 12,000-pound trailer that Whiskey was traveling in detached from the truck and nearly missed the canal below. 

Mia was asleep in the back seat when they crashed but woke up and in a matter of seconds busted the vehicle's windows and saved her parents.

"I found my phone and called 911, and while I was on the phone with 911 I found a window and I kicked out the window to get us out, and I told my parents I found a way out, follow me," Mia said.

After they were safe, she immediately ran to Whiskey's aid.

"I had to swim through the water to get to him, and I had to open the door in the water to get to him, I really don't know how I did it. Once I got in there I saw that he was stepping through the glass windows and was cut up, and he was shaking and was scared. I was just sitting there trying to talk to him because I know if I tried to rush him out he would get hurt," Mia said.

Her mother, Stacy, still gets choked up thinking about how her young daughter was able to react so quickly.

"I'm very grateful that she had the strength and wisdom to help us and get us out of that situation," Stacy said.

She says she can't understand why someone would drive away after that.

"I'm also disgusted that the person who hit us didn't stop. They're driving around again potentially putting someone else in danger," Stacy said.

The Gilpins said in a week or two, Whiskey will be ready to ride again. Anyone with information about the driver of the white pickup should call Louisiana State Police.