Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Coco Warner ReportingA Bountiful man had a suprise wake-up call today on live television when he was the subject of our High Five segement on Eyewitness News Today. Because of his quick-thinking, a 12-year old girl is alive and recovering well from a scary accident.
We're in the business of surprising people, and hopefully it's a good one. On April 1st of this year, Joe Dalto got the surprise-- no, shock-- of his life.
Joe Dalto:"At one point I thought she might be dead-- just looking at her, she might already be dead."
Joe was in his driveway when he heard a scream come from up the street. 12-year old Jamie Vaughan was riding her non-motorized scooter down a hill when she came crashing down on the sidewalk below. She wasn't wearing a helmet.
Jamie Vaughan: "I kind of remember going down, but I don't remember hitting, and that's about it."
Joe is a quality manager for Lifeflight and has a background in nursing so he immediately checked on her breathing.
Joe Dalto: "So I stuck my fingers in her jaw and I moved her jaw. And then she took and then I heard a gasp and it was like, that was good. I knew that was good."
Jamie was taken by Lifeflight to Primary Children's Hospital where she spent the next month in recovery.
Linda Vaughan, Jamie's mother: "The impact was all right here on her head-- and she shattered all her face bones."
The plastic surgeon said her broken facial bones were like the crumbled potato chips at the bottom of the bag.
Joe Dalto: "I was fearful at first about going to the hospital, worried that she might die, and I wouldn't know what I would do if she did."
Scott Vaughan, Jamie's dad: "Well, basically they saved her life. Without Joe and the others that were there, she would have died-- it was such a serious injury."
Luckily, she did recover and now is doing fine, better than fine.
