Atlanta 3-Year-Old Takes Joy Ride on Dad's Camper

According to the WXIA Channel 11 in Atlanta, 3-year-old Christa Whitlow went for the joy ride of her life Tuesday.

Unbeknownst to her father, Carey Whitlow, she climbed up to the top of her dad's Dodge Dakota to join him while he ran errands.

She held on to the truck 's luggage rack . After 5 miles and speeds near 50 MPH, she grew tired and released her grip.

A nearby driver saw Christa fall from the truck to the ground below and roll several times. Christa, wearing only a T-shirt got up and began to run after her dad who continued to drive along Jim Hood Road. The motorist tried to calm Christa and called for an ambulance.

That driver Kenneth Chambers, 19, Spoke to a Gainesville Times reporter. He describes what he saw as "a baby that fell onto the road and started rolling."

Whitlow however got a call from his wife Colleen, shaken, after she could not find Christa in the house anywhere. They called 911 to report their missing child.

Meanwhile police who were busy working reports that a young girl was thrown from a truck, responded to their home. Several hours later, Christa's parents were reunited with their bandaged daughter at the hospital.

Whitlow, a social studies teacher says "God had a hand on Christa." "I had to be going at least 40, 45 MPH at least." He is still very visually upset about the whole thing.

During the confusion, police impounded his truck and took him in for questioning. Police never released the status of his daughter until they were confident he was truthful about not knowing the whereabouts of Christa. Investigators found Christa small hand prints on top of the truck which helped confirm her Fathers story. The Hall County Sheriff Major Strickland says, while they do not expect foul play, the incident is still under investigation.

Christa has two sisters 8 and 6 and a younger brother aged 2. She is scheduled to be released from the hospital later today.

Sources:

Catherine Kim, "Hall Co. Toddler Survives Wild Ride."Associated Content
(http://www.11alive.com/news/article_news.aspx?storyid=98604)