JACKSON, Miss. — Colleagues are reaching out to support a fellow paramedic who was struck by a drunk driver while assisting a pedestrian at the scene of a crash last week.
WJTV reported that medic Jennifer Hesselbein, 27, suffered severe injuries and remains in critical condition at a local hospital. Her family says she is making slow, but steady progress, according to the report.
“A paramedic’s worst nightmare is to have an accident while on the scene,” said Gabe Smith, a medic in Meridian. “You never know what happens when you’re on the side of the road.”
Smith owns a T-shirt company and is selling them for $20 each in order to help Hesselbein’s family pay for non-medical bills, according to the report.
“I’ve never met her before. She’s in the brotherhood or sisterhood, whatever you want to call it, and we felt we needed to do something to help her out,” explained Smith.
The alleged drunk driver is being held in jail without a bond and was charged with aggravated DUI assault and aggravated DUI death, according to the report. The pedestrian was killed.
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