Cover Story: Stafford County honors IT specialist for heroism
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UMW's Lisa Ames was recognized for heroism by Stafford County. |
Lisa Ames, an instructional technology specialist at the College of Graduate and Professional Studies, wasn’t even dressed for work yet when she helped to save the life of a fellow Stafford county resident.
“I was still in my sweats,” Ames (right) said.
It was before 7 in the morning when Ames heard a loud crash from the road. Her 16-year-old daughter, Laura, who had just left to catch the bus to Mountain View High School, shouted to her mother to call 911. A car traveling at 65 miles per hour had just slammed into a tree located near the end of Ames’ long gravel driveway.
A good Samaritan in a truck stopped by to help the 20-year-old driver out of her wrecked car. Her leg was pinned underneath the engine which had been pushed deep into the auto on impact. After extricating the driver from the vehicle, the man and a neighborhood boy carried the driver to a nearby field.
The man then left the site before anyone learned his name. But by moving the driver, he had helped just in time.
“The trees and brush caught fire. It was that quick,” Ames said. “Then her car exploded.”
When she heard her daughter calling out, Ames rushed out of the house to the site of the accident. Laura and two neighborhood boys were sitting in the empty field, now a safe distance from the burning trees. Laura comforted and talked to the wounded woman while she drifted in and out of consciousness.
“I was pleased to see that my daughter was able to sit there,” Ames said. “It was somewhat gruesome.”
The accident victim had nine broken bones, a mangled arm and crushed ribs among other injuries.
Ames tried to gather what information she could from the woman. She couldn’t remember names or phone numbers, but she knew her mother’s workplace. Ames called every number available for employees at Potomac Flooring. Finally, she reached someone who put her in contact with the victim’s mother, who soon was on the scene.
“Things seemed to be moving in slow motion at that point,” Ames said. Shortly after the mother arrived, so did the medevac helicopter.
Weeks later, at a ceremony to honor the heroism of Laura, two neighborhood boys, and the anonymous man who pulled the victim from the car, Lisa Ames was surprised to learn that she, too, was being honored.
Stafford County presented her with a plaque and commended her brave actions on that September morning. The young driver, who at the time was still hospitalized and in rehabilitation, was there to thank Ames and the teens for saving her life.
Ames is grateful to have witnessed Laura and the boys in their heroic actions. “They did a tremendous job without hesitation or fear,” Ames said. “I'm very proud to have seen evidence of their good hearts.”
But as for Ames, she isn’t one who likes a lot of public attention. In fact, before the interview for this article, she had told only two people at the University of Mary Washington about the accident.
“I certainly hope I did what anyone else would do, especially a mother,” she said.
Ames continues her work as an instructional technology specialist at CGPS, keeping her heroic stories to herself, storing the commendation plaque in a box.
– Elise M. Tobin will graduate in May with a degree in English from University of Mary Washington.