It had already been a long day Monday for Savanah Spillman, a nursing student at Northwest Technology Center at Kansas, Okla. She left the house by 4 a.m.
to be at clinicals by 6 a.m. and had helped deliver a baby. By 3 p.m.
the young mother, a resident of Pea Ridge, had just picked up one of her sons from the Head Start class on Halleck Lane and headed home to put up groceries, prepare supper and tend to her four sons and husband.
Then, she saw the immediate aftermath of a head-on collision between two cars on Slack Street - right in front of her.
A certified nursing assistant and nursing student, Savanah immediately realized she had to help.
She rushed to the side of the man trapped in one of the cars and stabilized him, talking to and comforting him while awaiting the arrival of emergency personnel. Another bystander had already begun tending to the driver of the other vehicle.
“I got in the back seat and kept his head and neck still and looked him over just making sure he was OK until the fire department got there,” Savanah said, adding that she assured the couple in the car that the odors were from the airbags and antifreeze and not gasoline.
“It happened so quick. I just knew the wreck looked bad and they would probably need help,” she said. “I guess school has taught me to act now; deal with emotions later ... getting in the back with him and not knowing what I was getting into, I was shaking and nervous, but adrenaline took over and that went away quickly.”
Emergency personnel worked for nearly half an hour cutting the roof off a 1992 Buick LeSabre in order to free Sammy Bridges, 69, of Pea Ridge. Bridges’ wife, Kathy, 65, was driving their car eastbound, returning home from a visit to the doctor, when she crossed the center line of Arkansas Highway 72 (Slack Street) and hit an oncoming vehicle. Mr.
Bridges was taken to Northwest Medical Center, according to the police report.
Gary Stockburger, 58, of Elkins, was the driver of the westbound 2008 Nissan Versa that collided with the Bridges’ vehicle. He was taken to Mercy Medical Centerby Pea Ridge Ambulance, according to the report.
Mrs. Bridges told police she is a diabetic and became drowsy.
When emergency personnel arrived and began tending to Mr. Bridges, Savanah turned her attention to Mrs. Bridges, who told her she had missed her afternoon snack. Savanah gave her a soft drink and stayed with her throughout the ordeal of watching her car cut to pieces to get her husband out.
Emergency medical personnel from Pea Ridge and Bentonville worked together to cut open the Buick, then lift Mr. Bridges onto a backboard before placing him in a Bentonville ambulance.
Savanah and her husband,James, have four sons ages 7, 6, 4 and 18 months. The elder two attend Pea Ridge Primary School.
She is a 2005 graduate of Rogers High School.
James, a 1998 graduate of Pea Ridge High School, works at A&E Supply in Rogers. They live in Pea Ridge.
“I think nursing student or not - I would have stopped. Sometimes just keeping people calm during times like this helps the most,” Savanah said, adding that later, at home, her son told her that he and his friend pretended to call 911 while she was at the accident scene.
News, Pages 1 on 03/06/2013