A 27-year-old American Twitch creator who captured a shocking car accident on his live stream has opened up about the surreal, life-altering moment to the BBC, revealing he remains determined to complete his ambitious charity trek despite the terrifying collision.
Known online by his handle “Humblezayy,” Isaiah Thomas launched the cross-country walking challenge with a heartfelt mission: to trek more than 3,000 miles from Philadelphia to Southern California, with every dollar raised going toward building a trade school for young people who cannot pursue traditional college education. The project has already struck a chord with donors, pulling in more than $50,000 in contributions by the time the accident happened.
The incident unfolded on Day 34 of Thomas’s journey, as he traveled along Route 40 in Richmond, Indiana. Normally, Thomas follows strict safety protocols: he walks facing oncoming traffic, wears high-visibility reflective gear, and moves with a support cart ahead of him. On this particular day, however, a local fan who follows his stream offered to serve as a rear escort, driving behind Thomas with hazard lights active to warn approaching vehicles. After checking with local law enforcement and receiving official approval, Thomas began his day’s walk as planned.
Tragedy struck mid-route when a car crashed into the escort vehicle traveling behind Thomas, sending the vehicle careening into the streamer from his right side. Recalling the split-second collision, Thomas described the experience as surreal. “It was so fast, but it felt like it was in slow motion; it was like I was just gliding in the air – it was crazy,” he told the BBC. In the moments immediately after impact, a flood of worries raced through his mind: “I’m like, I hope this isn’t over. I hope that my injuries aren’t too bad.”
For Thomas, this close call carried extra weight: he had already survived a serious car accident just six months prior, and had spent months in intensive therapy just to relearn how to walk well enough to undertake his fundraising challenge.
After the crash, Thomas was able to stand up and survey the damage. Both the escort vehicle and the car that caused the collision were completely totaled, though remarkably, neither driver suffered life-threatening injuries. When first responders arrived at the scene, Thomas was able to share footage of the exact moment of impact, pulled directly from his live stream by one of his content moderators. It was only when he rewatched the clip himself that he fully grasped the force of the collision. “When I watched the video, that’s when I was surprised, like, wow, this car really hit me that hard,” he said. “That’s when I realised the impact.”
Thomas was transported to a local hospital for evaluation, and walked away with only minor injuries: sprained ankles and small soft tissue damage, a outcome he called pure luck. In the days since the accident, despite the lingering shock of the event, Thomas has reaffirmed his commitment to finishing the trek, saying he only plans to take a short recovery break before hitting the road again.
“For the next three to four days, I’m going to be taking ice baths and really just putting my body through a lot just to get back to where I was,” he said. With roughly 2,000 miles still left to cover and three months to complete the journey, Thomas shows no sign of abandoning the cause that pushed him to take on the challenge in the first place.