“It would’ve been a death trap if they’d stayed there,” Brian Doan, 54, tells PEOPLE. “She made the right decision given the circumstances.”
On Monday morning, Lindsy Doan, a 38-year-old special education teacher at Lillian Larsen Elementary, was on her way to school with her son, who is enrolled in kindergarten there. While on San Marcos Road, Brian says his wife slowed down when she realized the waters at the creek crossing “were faster and higher than she expected them to be.”
He says that at the time, “there was no indication that the road was closed” or that there was “anything wrong” with taking that route. In fact, they’d actually driven through the area on Sunday without any issues.
“It was a 4,000 pound vehicle and it basically floated her off of the road and into some trees,” her husband says. As “water started to come into the car,” Lindsy lost the ability to steer, he adds.
Still, Brian — who was on his way to Paso Robles with their daughter at the time — said that Kyle remained calm. “He told her, ‘Don’t worry, Mommy. It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay,’ " he tells PEOPLE.
Kyle Doan.Courtesy Brian Doan
The only door or window she was able to open was the one closest to her, Brian says.
Although she was initially able to get her son out safely, while she was “steadying him” and holding onto a tree, at some point a current pushed them, which “caused her to lose contact with him.”
“He was ahead of her in the creek downstream. She was fighting to stay upright,” he says. And as his wife continued to get hit with debris in the water, at one point “her head went below water” and “she lost track of him.”
So far, Kyle has not been found, although Cambria Community Services District Fire Chief Justin Vincent previously toldThe Tribunein San Luis Obispo that authorities did finda child’s shoeat the scene.
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Speaking of the difficult decision to get out of the vehicle, Brian says that he knows “it was the right thing to do.”
“Sometime later that day, Monday, I was told from rescue officials that the car was pushed upside down and farther down [the creek],” Brian says. “I don’t see what else she could have done.”
“People can beat themselves up, and that’s the hard thing. But once she found herself in the situation with Kyle, she made the best choice,” he adds.
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Kyle Doan.San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office
Brian, who also shares an 18-year-old son and a 16-year-old daughter with his wife, says Kyle is “a very energetic” kid who loves making friends and “being silly.”
“He had a lot of challenges to deal with this last year, and we were proud of him. So proud,” his father says. “It’s really hard. It’s so unfair. It really is.”
And although it’s been a difficult time, having the support of their neighbors has been “so humbling.”
For now, Brian is just “trying to be patient” and stay optimistic that Kyle will be found.
“I just want some closure,” he says. “I just want him found right now. I know it’s probably not going to be the best possible outcome, but I just want an outcome right now.”
source: people.com
