Local woman reunites with first responders who saved her life

Some stories have happy endings. A couple of weeks ago we introduced you to Valerie Goodwin, a woman who was in a horrific car accident that left her badly injured and in a coma. She was able to finally meet with some of the first responders from Central Fire District that saved her life.

“They have inspired me to go out and give it my all because they did exactly that and they did a beautiful job,” says Valerie Goodwin, accident survivor.

“When I arrived on the scene, I saw Valerie hanging upside down in her vehicle. She wasn’t breathing very well and we needed to get her out as fast as we could,” says JJ Hartwell, EMT.

“We had people that took primary care and the rest of us were assisting them. She was pretty hurt, so it doesn’t always look good. So they had air coming to get her,” says Brenna Kelly, firefighter/EMT

“I can’t even describe how I feel because I just want to cry right now and I’m telling myself not to cry because I have cried many nights wanting to thank you. Just when I hug my kids and my grandchildren I just think that had you not had the training and the sensible mind that you do have, I might not be here to do that today,” says Goodwin.

“I was overwhelmed a little bit but I didn’t cry. It was great to see her. We don’t get to see the outcome of a lot of our patients. So it’s a really good thing to see that and see her,” says Jim Kelly, Battalion Chief.

“It makes you want to go out and do it again. It makes you want to go help more people,” says Brenna Kelly.