Girl, 11, had ‘gut feeling’ after car crash and was proven right

The little girl witnessed her sister’s car get rear-ended not too far from their home and had an immediate “gut feeling” afterwards – and it turned out she was absolutely right

An 11-year-old girl acted on a “gut feeling” she had after a car crash and was quickly proven to be right.

There is science behind the so-called gut-feeling, with the experience presenting in a variety of forms from butterflies in your stomach to a sense of unease or anxiety, or unexpected sweaty palms, a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, and plenty more.

Whether there’s any accuracy to it or not, Heathline states these feelings “aren’t random” and, despite their perceived location, they “don’t actually originate in your gut”.

The health information site explains: “The gut-brain connection makes it possible for emotional experiences to register as gastrointestinal distress.”

They come about because your brain is constantly collecting and processing “sensory data from your environment”, some of which we’re perfectly aware of and some which is processed more subconsciously.

Often, our “unconscious observations” lead us to “sense” something untoward is going on and, sometimes, we’re right on the money and manage to swerve danger.

This proved to be the case for an 11-year-old girl who witnessed her sister get into a car accident not far from their home. Someone smashed into the back of her vehicle.

When the other driver got out of his car, he approached the two sisters and started discussing his insurance information. This is when the young girl started to feel something was off.

Her story was shared on Reddit in response to a post which asked: “What is a ‘gut feeling’ you had that turned out to be 100% accurate, even though it made no logical sense at the time?”

Now an adult, the woman explained: “My sister’s car got rear ended near our house. She sent me home to go get our parents while she exchanged insurance info.

“The other driver seemed overly friendly and schmoozy. I felt compelled to write down their license plate. I had a pen but no paper… but I did have an orange. I wrote the plate in the orange rind and ran home.

“By the time my parents got to the scene, the guy had already driven off and given my sister all his insurance info. Turns out he gave her fake info so the police and insurance tracked them down using the license plate I wrote down! I was 11 at the time.”

In the comments beneath her post, fellow Reddit users shared their thoughts. One person said: “Smart little cookie! Well done you.”

Another said: “Seriously though 11 years old and thinking to grab the plate when something felt off? That’s impressive.

“It is also an elite problem-solving under pressure, writing it on an orange rind. The instinct must have spared your family a huge headache. A brain has its ways sometimes and says, no, write this down, and it works.”

A third said: “Wow, your intuition and quick thinking worked wonderfully, bravo!”

And another joked: “Orange you glad you wrote that down.”