“He was absolutely terrified.”
One late June night in St. John, Indiana, a tiny kitten faced a terrifying ordeal — sprinting across a bustling four-lane highway under the cover of darkness. Somehow dodging speeding cars, the kitten made it to safety in a Walgreens parking lot. That’s when Natalie Bartuszek, driving home from work, noticed something strange out of the corner of her eye.
“At first, I thought it was just a plastic bag blowing across the road,” Bartuszek told The Dodo. But when it moved like it had a purpose, she realized it was something alive — and in danger.
Without hesitation, Bartuszek flipped a U-turn, grabbed a towel from her car, and began searching for the frightened kitten.
“He was absolutely terrified,” she said. “He kept running from me. At one point, he started heading back toward traffic — and I had to block him off.”
In the chaos, the kitten vanished beneath her car. For a moment, Bartuszek feared he’d slipped away again. But then, a faint meow came from beneath her vehicle. When she looked closer, she spotted tufts of orange fur wedged into the wheel well — the kitten had somehow crammed himself between the hubcap and the tire.
His distressed cries made it clear he wasn’t comfortable, and Bartuszek knew she needed help. Her husband soon arrived, and together they gently coaxed the kitten free after about ten tense minutes.
“He came out swinging,” she said with a laugh. “We got him into a carrier, but he was completely freaked out — panting and puffed up like a little furball.”
Since it was too late to contact a shelter, Bartuszek brought the kitten home, setting him up in a quiet room with food and water. As a cat owner herself, she knew he needed time to recover from the trauma. A few hours later, the kitten had calmed down — still wary of touch, but no longer in survival mode.
Seeing no injuries, just a whole lot of attitude, Bartuszek reached out to local rescues in hopes of finding him a proper home.
Whiskers of Winfield, a foster-based rescue that had opened the previous year in nearby Winfield, Indiana, responded to her message. They invited her to bring the kitten to an adoption event the very next day.
“When people saw him, they immediately wanted to pick him up,” said Megan Martin, social media manager for the rescue. “But I had to remind them — this guy’s brand new. He was still scared out of his mind.”
The team named him Indy, in honor of the highway that nearly took his life.
After a bath and some flea treatment, Indy’s true appearance emerged. “He was absolutely filthy,” Martin said. “But once we cleaned him up, he turned out to be a beautiful diluted orange kitten.”
Though most feral kittens take a while to warm up, Indy proved to be an exception. Within just a few days, he had transformed into a loving, affectionate companion.
“He’s unbelievably sweet,” Martin said. “I think he may have lived with other cats before — he adjusted to humans so quickly.”
Now in a foster home, Indy spends his days playing with other cats, getting along great with children, and enjoying a much safer, more peaceful life.
“He has this face that’s just heartbreaking — like the sad eyes from Puss in Boots,” Martin joked. “It’s his permanent expression. He’s seriously one of the most mellow kittens we’ve ever fostered.”
From surviving rush-hour traffic to thriving in a loving home, Indy’s story is a powerful reminder of how a split-second decision — and a whole lot of compassion — can completely change a life.