“We’re Not Dying Today”: A Crash, a Shriner and One Woman's Fight

On the morning of Aug. 17, 2020, Manitoba nurse Brianna Seewald’s life changed in an instant. Driving home after a night shift, she was T-boned by a truck near Sainte-Anne. The impact shattered her spine, collapsed a lung and left her trapped – paralyzed and terrified – in the wreckage.

“I remember everything,” Seewald said. “From seeing the truck coming toward me, the moment of impact and every torturous moment that came after. I tried to reach for the door, but I realized I was crushed. The pain was instant and excruciating – pain I’ll never be able to explain.”

Believing she might die alone, she whispered a prayer to her late grandfather: “Papa, please don’t let me die in here.”

Just then, she heard a voice.

A Stranger Named John

That voice belonged to John Hill – a Shriner and accident survivor himself, trained in first aid. “While I approached the car, I tried to call 911 and asked another man to do the same,” he said. “Why I didn’t hesitate, I can’t answer. I wanted to help.”

He climbed into the back of Seewald’s mangled car, ignoring the broken glass and the risk to himself. “Brianna was conscious,” he said. “I told her I was going to hold her head. She couldn’t see my face, but as I held her and talked to her, she couldn’t see the tears rolling down mine.”

Seewald remembers the moment vividly. “He stayed so calm. I was trying to call my boyfriend to say goodbye – I thought I was dying. John gently took the phone from me, like he was saying, ‘We’re not dying today.’”

Noble Hill’s steady presence bought Seewald precious time. “The accident mangled the car, and this all took place during COVID,” he said. “But I didn’t think of my own safety – only of helping someone in distress.”

Two Lives Changed

Noble Hill knew firsthand what lay ahead for Seewald. “Ten years earlier, I had a motorcycle crash and broke my neck,” he said. “It took a lot of therapy to recover. I thought about the misery Brianna was about to face – if she lived. The pain, the physio, the disruption.”

He would stay with her for the full 25 minutes until firefighters could cut her free. “When they twisted me to get me out, I felt the clicking of my broken spine,” Seewald said. “Then I lost all feeling from the neck down. I knew I was dying – but I was at peace. The pain was finally gone.”

Seewald was airlifted to Winnipeg's trauma hospital. Doctors later told her that, if she’d moved her neck just a bit more, she would have died or ended up on a ventilator for life.

“They said, ‘If someone really was in your vehicle with you, they saved your life,’” she said. “How do you thank someone for that? There were never going to be words big enough.”

The Reunion

Because of pandemic restrictions, it took nearly a year before Seewald and Noble Hill could meet face-to-face. “I walked into their home and saw Brianna,” he said. “The emotions were overwhelming. I said nothing, just went up and gave her a hug. I was so afraid to hurt her.”

Seewald, who is partially paralyzed and uses a wheelchair, added: “When he opened the door and said, ‘Hello,’ it was the same gentle voice I remembered. It was the most meaningful hug I’ll likely ever have.”

She later honored him at her wedding by sharing a first dance together. “I chose the song You’ll Be in My Heart by Phil Collins,” she said. “John didn’t know, but he started to cry when he heard it. I wiped away his tears – just like he had comforted me that day. It was our full-circle moment.”

Advocacy Through Pain

Despite her trauma, Seewald has become a fierce advocate. She shares her journey openly on TikTok, offering support and solidarity for others with spinal cord injuries.

“Brianna shares so much of her life now, even her good and bad days,” Noble Hill said. “She lived for a reason. God only knew what she was capable of. Brianna is amazing – a bright star for the world.”

But her fight hasn’t been just physical or emotional. It’s also been bureaucratic. Despite her doctors recommending intensive spinal rehab, Manitoba Public Insurance denied funding due to technical requirements. The treatment cost up to $8,000 per month.

“This wasn’t a luxury,” Seewald said. “It was my chance to walk again, to return to nursing, to have a family. Being told I couldn’t access that care felt like being denied my future.”

A GoFundMe campaign helped raise nearly $50,000, allowing her to begin private therapy. But her fight for systemic change continues.

A Legacy of Service

Noble Hill sees his role in Seewald’s life as part of something larger. “Shriners are about helping others, especially children,” he said. “There’s no external reward – only the self-satisfaction of doing what’s right.”

He still follows her journey closely. “We’ve been placed on Earth to help others,” he said. “No good deed is too small.”

For Seewald, that help came in the form of a calm voice in a crushed car – and a hand that held hers when she needed it most. “Not many people get to meet their heroes,” she said. “But I did. And he saved my life.”