Emery’s EMTs came together recently to help one of their own. They hosted a fund raiser benefit to help a family member of a local EMT who was injured very severly in a car accident.
Kris Hatch, an EMT in Emery was recently called out to assist with a passenger in a car who had been brought into the Emery Park. The notifiying person said the young girl had been in a rollover accident.
When Hatch arrived at the car, a horrible reality hit her squarely in her midsection. The injured young woman who had been driven to Emery with very extreme injuries was her own daughter, Wendee.
Wendee was bleeding and needed attention very quickly. The remaining Emery EMTs took over for Kris and took Wendee by ambulance to Castleview Hospital where she was then lifeflighted to Primary Childrens Medical Center in Salt Lake City.
Following surgery on her neck to repair a cervical break and fuse several cervical discs together, Wendee miraculously attended the fund raiser. Less than a week after the accident, Wendee attended the benefit which was pulled together very quickly by the Emery EMTs to help the family.
Barbara Petty, one of the EMTs, said, “We all witnessed a miracle when Wendee walked into the benefit. She was so badly injured no one expected her to be home from the hospital so soon. She is a very lucky girl to be with us still. Any additional injury or movement to that broken neck could have paralyzed her or even killed her.”
Petty said the group of EMTs who worked to put together the benefit and set a goal for themselves. “We reached that goal due to everyone’s generosity and willingness to help this family.”
Wendee, who will be a junior at Emery High this fall, said, “Seat belts work. I wouldn’t be here if I had not been wearing one. It saved my life.”
Emery rallies around one of their own after car accident
"Wendee Hatch, just days after her accident, attends the benefit held in Emery. "