In the early hours of Sunday morning, with barely a car on the road, our family was headed westbound between Twin Falls and Mountain Home, ID. We were just approaching mile marker 149 when we saw a large plume of dust from the sloping, tumbleweed filled median. Immediately, my husband say the vehicle that had crashed, and without hesitation he pulled to the side of the road. The pickup was at the base of the sloped median, facing west, upside down. The cab was crushed all the way down. Speedily, my eldest son and I both threw our shoes on. As my hubby, Milo, and my eldest, Tylan, and I all threw open our car doors, I yelled to the other three to stay in the car and pray for those in the accident. The three of us raced to the impact site. Across the highway, about 30 yards away, a trucker had pulled his semi over and was running to aide the victim as well. We got to the smashed up vehicle about the same time.
Milo could get no cell signal, except that of the emergency one. It was enough. As he spoke to the emergency dispatch, Trucker (as I will call him, since I never got his name), Tylan and I tried to figure out if anyone was alive in the truck. The damage was severe; certainly the injuries would be as well. We called out, "Hello? Can you hear us?" Nothing. "Hello? Can anyone hear us?" After what seemed like an eternity of holding my breath, we finally heard a faint response, "Yes, I can hear you." Praise God. They were alive. I began asking questions. First: How may of you are there? "Just me," she responded. As Tylan and Trucker began looking for a way to get her out, and Milo was on the phone, we noticed there was debris scattered everywhere. Realizing there was no way we were going to get her out without help, Tylan and Trucker began collecting her belongings that were strewn about and I went and crouched next to the passenger side where she could hear me better.
"Sweetie, what's your name?" I implored.
"Samantha," she responded calmly.
"Samantha, I'm Jenny."
"Nice to meet you." Great! She has a sense of humor. We were going to get through this.
"Samantha, don't move. Help is on their way. We are going to get you out of there."
"Ok, thank you."
"Samantha, how old are you?"
"24."
"Ok, Sam. I am 36 so I am going to play the role of big sister."
"Sounds good." I smiled. She was conscious. She was calm. She was being cooperative.
"Sam, can you feel your toes?" Although I have no real medical training beyond basic first aid as a teenager, I had watched enough real-life emergency and fictional emergency shows over the years. I knew this was a critical question to determine the state of her being.
"Yes. I can feel everything. I can move my toes. I was wearing my seat belt. I took it off." She then attempted to reach her hand through the 3 inch gap between the door and the ground. She maneuvered her face so she could see me. I could see one eye and the blood covering her face. We made eye contact. I smiled. She moved again so I could no longer see her.
Tylan and Trucker continued to look for her items in between moment of checking on the situation. Milo was still taking to Emergency Services. I kept talking to Sam. I asked her where she was headed. She was going to Mountain Home to start a new job in a couple of weeks.
"Where will you be working?" She explained to me she would be working at a bounce house- one of those places where kids come to jump on the blow up houses and slides.
"So you will get to work with kids! Do you like children?"
"I love children," she responded. I smiled again. I asked her if she has any of her own. She does not. Just as Tylan and Trucker were finishing gathering her items, she asked me, "Did you happen to see my cell phone? I need to call my dad. He is gonna be so mad. This is his truck." Tylan and Trucker went in search for her cell phone while Sam and I continued to talk. She was unbelievably calm. I was unbelievably calm.
Tylan found the cell and slipped it to her. Trapped inside the crushed cab of a truck, this young lady called her dad.
"Dad, it's Sam. You are going to be mad. I was in an accident...... Yeah, I'm ok." Then nothing.
"Sam, did you reach your dad?" I inquired.
"Yeah, but then my phone went dead." Oh boy. As a parent, I can imagine the stress of that call: Hearing your child was in an accident, then the line goes dead. Not knowing where it happened or how serious the injuries are would be the worst.
I left Sam for a minute so we could do some figuring. We were not able to pry the doors open to see if she could crawl out. The nearest main town with a emergency vehicles was about 20 miles away, and although it had only been a few minutes since the accident, it seemed like it was taking forever for them to get there. Just then, a truck pulled up. Because he had the little white flashing light on the sides of his hood, we assumed he was in the line of service, perhaps an off duty police officer. Large in stature and wearing a bright orange, long sleeve shirt, he walked onto the scene without identifying himself, and attempted to take charge of the scene. We told him what we knew. He went to ask Samantha the same questions I already had shared the answers to. Then, he asked if anyone had a crowbar. He was going to pry the doors open. Trucker ran to his truck to see if he had one. Huh. So... the emergency dispatcher on the phone was telling Milo to not pry the doors open, to let the Fire Department do it because we could not risk injuring her further with a possible neck injury. Yet, the assumed off duty officer was going to just stroll up and what... get her out? Interesting.
I went to check on Sam. There was no response. I was a bit worried.
"Sam? Sam, can you hear me?" Nothing. I tried again. "Sam, do you hear me?"
Then there was a muffled, "Yeah, I hear you." What was going on? Where was she? It's not like she could go anywhere.
Then, Big Man Orange Shirt suddenly said from the driver's side, "Hold on! Don't move!" It seems that Courageous Samantha decided she had enough of being trapped. I ran to the other side of the truck and there, just like in "The Wizard of Oz" were two shoes sticking out from underneath the Milo was finally off the phone and took the position to wave down the emergency vehicles as they arrived. Depending on what side of the highway they were on, they may not have seen the accident right away. The first emergency vehicle was just pulling up when Big Man Orange Shirt decided to make his exit. Weird. Wonder who he was. Emergency Man #1 with big, thick welding-type gloves on, was hurrying over from his truck when Tylan and I yelled she was out. Trucker came running from the other direction at that moment with a crowbar when we told him the same thing. They both slowed down.
"She's out? Is she ok?" yelled Gloved Helper.
"She's ok," I yelled back.
"Can I get something to blow my nose?" Samantha inquired. "Maybe wipe my face?" I don't blame her. She had blood all over her face, running in her eyes and into her mouth.
"The next vehicle that comes will have that," Gloved Helper responded. Apparently not all emergency vehicles have basics in their car like tissues or wipes. I wish our van had been closer to go get her something. As it was, Tylan had gone up to check on his siblings and let them know she was ok, Milo was flagging down the next approaching emergency vehicle and Trucker was just standing by to see where he would be needed. Sam got her phone out and called her dad again. At least she was staying put, leaning against the truck.
Emergency Man #2 came down the hill and we could see the ambulance coming down the road. They were asking what had happened and she readily admitted she fell asleep at the wheel. As they were surmising the scene, Sam was on the phone still and I could see she was beginning to shiver.
"Sam, are you cold?" I asked her.
"Yeah, I am a little cold," she replied with a shaky voice. Shock.
"Do you have a blanket?" Milo had to prompt the EMT. Emergency Man #2 (aka Blanket Man) went to get one. As he was coming back to the scene, I told him she had shimmied herself out. He chuckled and said that was a very good sign. As Sam continued to talk to her dad on the phone, Gloved Helper and Blanket Man were covering her up with the blanket.
"Sam, they need to take care of you. Can I talk to your dad? Let me talk to him while they help you," I urged her as I reached out for her phone. She told her dad she would call him back and she ended the call. As the EMT's treated her, I got her number and said I would call her in a couple of days. Would that be ok?
"Sure," she said. Her words began to slur as she told me the number. Shock was really setting in.
The ambulance pulled up. We knew she was in good hands.
The EMT's thanked us for our help. We said goodbye to the young lady whose life was spared. We bid farewell to Trucker- a good man on his way to make a drop in Salt Lake City. Quietly, we walked away, each of us reflecting on the event that just happened.
As I have reflected this weekend on the miracle it was for that young woman to crawl away from that accident, I am in awe. I am in awe that her injuries were not more severe. I am in awe that we were able to be at that precise place at the precise time to help someone in need. The roads were practically barren early on a Sunday morning. There were no other cars that stopped until the EMT's had arrived and even then, only one. I am in awe that as human beings, most of us have a divine drive to stop and help when we see someone in that kind of need. I am in awe that my heart allowed me to race down a hill, to help in an emergency situation and not spiral out of control with crazy rates, as it would have done before. I am in awe that we can reach out to others and together create greatness out of goodness.
I will call Sam today, just as I promised. I know she will be ok.
My name is Jenny McKinney. I am in awe and I really want some chocolate.
Update: Sam got herself out of the passenger side of the car, not the driver's side. Also, I just spoke with her on the phone. She is doing well, except for being a little sore. She had no major injuries that showed in her scans at the hospital. Not even a concussion! We agree that she was definitely being watched out for. I am so grateful for this happy ending!
She is really lucky and blessed. I am sure her dad is just happy she is alive.
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