ELKHART COUNTY — As roads filled with ice and snow again Monday night, one Elkhart County family found out just how dangerous even a "dusting" can be, after their car landed in a creek off County Road 4. They survived the ordeal, thanks in part, to the kindness of total strangers.

The accident happened just before 5 Sunday night on County Road 4, about half a mile East of County Road 13. 24 hours later, Debbie Kratzer and her daughter Ashley are home home from the hospital and counting their blessings, with a new view on just how dangerous winter weather can be.

"It's kind of weird looking at the pictures, isn't it?" Debbie said with a smile to Ashley as the two glanced at photos of their overturned SUV in a ditch. "It's amazing story."

It all began with what Debbie thought would be a quick and easy trip to choir practice. After all, the church is just down the road, and the really "bad" snow and ice hadn't hit yet.

"I thought the roads were fine. I thought they looked clear, and it wasn't snowing out," she said.

But in an instant, she found out how wrong she was.

"Whether it was slush or ice, I don't know. But, I veered off the road and I couldn't get back on to the road. By the time I did, I over-corrected myself and I just went to the left," Debbie said.

The car began to spin around, then flipped onto its side.

"I landed between two pretty big trees. It happened so quick. I remember I knew I wanted to turn the car off, and then my thought was just to get back to [Ashley]. She yelled to me, so I knew she was OK. She said 'Mommy, I'm sideways!'" Debbie said with a laugh.

But it was no laughing matter at the time.

Ashley admits she was scared.

But Debbie says her daughter remained calm, even though she was still buckled into her car seat, nearly upside down, with broken glass and a tree branch that had smashed though the back window just inches away from her face.

"She was actually in the third row. So, I had to climb over all the seats, sideways to get to her," Debbie said.

And time was running out.

Freezing water from the creek the SUV had landed in begin to rush into the Kratzers' SUV.

"It was almost up to my knees at that point, and it was really cold," said Debbie, pointing to one of the pictures.

The next obstacle was the door, now pointing up toward the sky.

"It was very heavy, but somehow I got it open," she said.

That's when panic set in.

"I yelled, because I didn't see anybody. I thought, what if nobody's around? I didn't have a phone. And then, suddenly there was a gentleman who leaned over so I could see him, and said he had called 911, and they were on their way," she said.

Her first thought?

"Relief, just that someone was there! Because the ditch was deep, I couldn't hold the door because it was so heavy, and it was filling up with water," Debbie said.

The stranger pulled Ashley from the sinking car as more drivers stopped to help.

"And he just held her the whole time until they were able to get us in the ambulance," said Debbie. "These were strangers. Complete strangers that stopped and were kind of enough to take care of my little girl."

And they remain complete strangers.

"I don't know who they are. I didn't get a chance to thank them. They were all gone by the time I came out of the ambulance," Debbie said.

It's the biggest regret of her unexpectedly uneventful day, far beyond the fact that her family is now without a car.

"That's a material thing. I just want to say to them, thank you so much for stopping and helping us out," she said.

It's also a daily reminder of a new life lesson on the road.

"Even though [the road] might not look bad, it really is. Nothing's that important. You can be late," she said.

It's a rule Debbie says she'll now live by, the written warning she received for driving too fast for road conditions is a small price to pay for a safe return home.

Debbie and Ashley both declined to be transported to the hospital, but Ashley later went to the doctor to be treated for a sore arm.

"I got a band-aid," she said with a smile, pointing to the mark left by the IV in her arm.

"We got to meet some really great doctors and the paramedics were fantastic," Mom added. "Even they said they were amazed there was barely a scratch on us. If we were there in that freezing water for much longer, who knows? It might have turned out very differently."