On the morning of October 13, 2019, Emelie wasn’t feeling well and decided to drive to Canby Urgent Care, leaving her husband at home with their children. As she navigated a sharp curve on Union Mills Road, her car slipped on a patch of oil and spun out of control. She braced for impact, seeing a black truck coming toward her, and the next thing she knew, her car had slammed into a telephone pole, rolled three times, and landed crushed against a tree.
A bystander who witnessed the crash heard her screams but was unable to pull her from the wreckage due to her injuries. Trapped with the steering wheel lodged under her sternum, Emelie drifted in and out of consciousness as Molalla Fire Rural Protection District #73 arrived. Her first thought upon waking was that she had died, as a blanket covered her face—placed there by the fire crew for protection during the extraction.
A member of the fire team placed a reassuring hand on her, telling her she’d been in an accident, but she was going to be okay. For 45 minutes, Emelie listened to saws cutting through the wreckage. Life Flight Network arrived to provide rapid transport to Portland’s Oregon Health & Science University and critical care enroute. In that moment, the helicopter seemed bigger than she’d ever imagined, and she found comfort in flight nurse Trevor, who was caring and attentive. Though in pain, Emelie felt connected to Trevor, a man she credits for helping save her life.
Her injuries were severe—a torn carotid artery, among others—and she spent a year on bedrest, unable to lift anything over three pounds, including her children. Looking back, she calls her survival a miracle and says the experience taught her how strong and resilient she is. “When I’m going through a tough time, I think of that helmet peering over me in the helicopter, and it reminds me that I can do hard things.”
Meeting Trevor again after her recovery was emotional. “They keep so many moms, dads, kids, sisters, brothers here,” she says. “There are no words to express how grateful I am that I’m still here to raise my children.”
