St. Paul Pioneer Press
Copyright 2008 St. Paul Pioneer Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Fate put Jay Shake in the right place at the right time Wednesday morning.

Driving down the on-ramp onto Interstate 94 in Woodbury, Shake saw a semi truck had rammed the rear of a Toyota Camry. Inside the car, a 4-year-old girl hung unconscious from a seat belt strap, not breathing.

Paramedics had not arrived yet.

Shake, a cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, got out of his car and soon stabilized the girl's neck, clearing her airway to help her breathe.

Shake attributed his quick action to nine years of trauma training.

"It's kind of built in," said Shake, reached by phone at a conference in Baltimore. "You do what you need to do."

Soon, a paramedic team arrived and fully resuscitated the girl — Sumalya Kalid — before transferring her to Regions Hospital, where she was listed in critical condition.

The State Patrol said the accident occurred about 8:30 a.m. when Khadra Ali, 37, driving with her two young daughters, either slowed or stopped her Camry in the center lane of I-94. Ali and her 1-year-old daughter, Abyan Kalid, weren't seriously hurt. The truck driver, Kenneth Ortner, 47, of Spring Valley, Wis., suffered no apparent injuries.

Investigators are still trying to determine why Ali slowed in the middle of the interstate. Alcohol was not a factor, and everyone was wearing a seat belt, the State Patrol said.

Shake said he plans to check on Sumalya's condition when he returns to the Twin Cities.

"It was quite a morning," he said. "I wasn't looking for it. You just want to do what you'd want someone else to do for your own family."