Woman saves accident victim, reconnects in hospital

Woman saves accident victim, reconnects in hospital

(Stacey Harward)


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AMERICAN FORK — A woman was reunited with a car accident victim after the victim's family located her on Facebook to thank her for helping during the incident.

The car accident occurred near 240 N. West State Road on July 15 around 2:20 p.m., according to American Fork police Sgt. Joshua Stilson. A black vehicle traveling southbound crossed two lanes of traffic while turning left and it struck a silver vehicle heading northbound, Stilson said.

The black car hit the driver’s side of the silver car during the collision and the driver was seriously injured in the accident. Police identified the driver of the silver car as Mickey Robbins. The driver of the black vehicle was not injured in the accident, Stilson said.

Stacey Harward said she was driving with her family near State Street when she heard the sounds from the accident. As a medical student at Stevens-Henager College, she said her training kicked in and she ran to help.

“I found an older lady and I asked her if she was hurt anywhere,” Hayward said. “She told me that her neck was hurting so I immediately put my hands on her head to keep it still. I had a feeling from the way she was acting that it was broken.”

Harward said she continued to stabilize Robbin’s neck until the paramedics arrived. She said the emergency responders asked her to get into the back of the car so they could pry open the driver’s side door and put a neck brace on Robbins.


I told my sister awhile back when we were just talking about helping people and I told her, 'Wouldn’t it be awesome to be able to say you saved someone’s life?' I never thought in a million years that I would actually save somebody’s life.

–Stacey Harward


“My worst fear was that she would be paralyzed,” Harward said.

Robbins was transported to a local hospital and Harward said she left the scene of the accident and went home. She said she posted on her Facebook page later that day that her “medical training had paid off,” and she detailed the incident. Harward said she woke up Sunday morning to several messages on her Facebook page from Robbins’ family thanking her for saving Robbins' life.

“The family said they were looking for me to thank me because I saved her life from holding her head,” Harward said. “I was able to get in contact with the husband and I was able to go down to the hospital and see her. She broke her C2 in her cervical spine in her neck, and there’s a main artery that goes to your brain right next to it. And when it breaks, it severs that main artery. I was able to keep it from severing her artery, I guess.”

Harward said the experience seemed overwhelming, but she just happened to be in the right place at the right time and did what she needed to do. The Robbins' declined to comment due to unresolved legal issues.

“I told my sister awhile back when we were just talking about helping people and I told her, ‘Wouldn’t it be awesome to be able to say you saved someone’s life?’ I never thought in a million years that I would actually save somebody’s life.”

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