Hello. My name is Jodi Leavesley and I would like to share my family’s story with you.  I am an employee of Tate County Emergency Medical Services in Senatobia MS.  I am also a nursing student in my final semester at Northwest Community College.  With my job you would think that emergencies are a normal part of my life and they are.  We try to handle every patient with the care and respect that we would want for our own families.  This story is about what happened when it actually was one of our own.

The Tate County Emergency Medical Services consists of a very close group of co-workers.  We spend many hours with each other every week.  It doesn’t take long for our families to sort of blend together.  We talk about our families and they come visit us at work.  We share the bad times as well as the good.  It is easy to come to feel love and protectiveness about each other’s families.

I worked a 12-hour shift with my partner Paramedic Cynthia Matthews on Friday May 21, 2004.  Cynthia, on the other hand was working a 48-hour shift so she was still there when I left.  Cynthia’s partner then became Joe Cooper.

My children Andrew, Ashley, Andrea (Ande), Patrick, and Chase were going to spend the night with my parents, Bill and Charlotte Taylor.  It was late when they picked the children up and they were in separate vehicles so my Dad took the boys home and my Mom took the girls to Wal-Mart.  On the way home my mother and my two daughters were in a car accident.  It was late, everyone was tired, they missed a turn and suddenly the road ended.  The car jumped a ditch, the front end hit a newly dug embankment, and they landed in a field.  My mother did not have good reception on her phone where they were, but managed to call home and tell my Dad they had wrecked and she needed him.  She thought at first that everyone was all right just banged up and scared until Ande (9) said, "Nana, I think my leg is broken."  She immediately called 911.

At the Fire Department where we are housed the tone that alerts us to a 911 emergency has been called in sounded.  It was nothing unusual to get called out of bed at 2:30 am.  As they arrived on scene, Cynthia got out of the unit to see my Dad standing by the car.  She told me that her first thought was, "What in the world is Bill doing out here?"  Then it became clearer to her as she assessed the scene while trying to get to them across the ditch and saw Ashley, my 15-year-old daughter.  That was when the realization set in.  She described the feeling to me when she said, "All I could think was Oh no!  This is Jodi’s family.  How am I going to tell her if this is really bad?"  To her and Joe it was indeed like finding their own family.  Cynthia and Joe jumped in with both feet.

Cynthia assessed the scene with the quickness that is required.  My mother and Ashley were bruised, scratched up, and very sore.  Ande, on the other hand, was in the car unable to get out from the pain in her leg.  They got a long spine board and got her out of the car as easily as they could.   They got everyone in the ambulance and went to the nearest hospital.

My Dad called me, told me about the accident, and told me where they were.  I am used to getting called to other peoples’ accidents, but it was a totally different experience when the call was about my family.

I got to the hospital in about 5 minutes.  I did not know any details.  Cynthia met me at the ambulance entrance.  When I saw her, my first thought was, "Thank you God for sending her."  All I could get out of my mouth was, " Are they Ok?" She filled me in on what happened as we went through the doors.

Radiology reports cleared my Mom and Ashley, but confirmed Ande’s femur was broken completely in half.  We started arrangements to get her transported to Le Bonheur.

Even though it was 5:30am and both Cynthia and Joe were scheduled to get off work at 6:00am, they refused to leave. They waited and transported my baby (with me riding in the back holding her hand) to Le Bonheur.

It was a very long 4 days here at the hospital, but Brian (Ande’s father) and I could not have asked for better treatment of both our daughter and us.  Bernard and his "Mom" Diana Chiles brought smiles to all of our faces and I can’t thank everyone here enough for the things that were done for us and for the job you do everyday.

It has been a long summer for Ande.  She not only had a broken femur, but her foot on the same leg was also broken.  She has gone through traction, surgery, a wheelchair, and crutches, and knows that she will have to have one more surgery before this will be over.  She is amazing!  She handled the whole thing easier than the rest of us without complaints.  She is a really special little girl.