By Erik Hackman
The Evening News and the Tribune
SCOTTSBURG, Ind. — On Oct. 8, Baylee Amos was on her way home from work after a long day of activities.
En route, the teenager crashed her vehicle into a ditch and hit a tree head-on.
The injuries she sustained were severe, requiring an onsite blood transfusion before she was freed from her vehicle by first responders. When they were able to free her, she was flown by Air Methods of Kentucky to Norton Children’s Hospital in Louisville for life-saving treatment.
On Monday, Amos was reunited with the medical team that helped save her life. She met them at Norton Scott Hospital in Scottsburg.
They still are not sure what caused the wreck, but they believe that Amos fell asleep at the wheel.
“I was about halfway home, I remember right before the wreck, just a couple miles,” Amos said. “After I wrecked, I woke up, realized there’s a tree in my truck and then I yelled for help.”
She fell back asleep shortly after that. She wrecked near a campground and a person came to help her and told her that people were coming to assist.
That person also called Amos’ parents. After that her memory gets blurry and she does not recall much of what happened that night.
When she crashed, the steering column of the vehicle pinned down on her leg. This was good and bad because it stopped the blood, but she was left stuck in the vehicle. When they freed her from the vehicle it would also result in blood pouring out of her.
“The officer from the scene told us it was one of the five top worst wrecks in the county that he’s seen,” said Mindy Sparrow, Amos’ mom. “I feel like there’s definitely big plans for her somewhere at some point. There’s a reason she’s here.”
Three people were on the flight team that helped save Amos’ life. Keith Baker, the pilot; Samantha Newkirk, flight nurse; and Greg Denz, flight paramedic.
“When we arrived close to the scene, from the air it looked like the scene was stretched out for a mile,” Baker said. “They (emergency services) had a designated landing spot at a church. We landed there, very dark night. It was pitch black.”
After they landed and arrived at the crash, they knew that Amos was going to be in critical condition. Denz and a firefighter got into the crashed vehicle to get an assessment of the situation.
Denz got Amos hooked up to his equipment to keep an eye on her vitals and to watch her while they were doing the extraction.
“While she was in the vehicle she started trending downwards, she was getting worse off,” Denz said. “I prompted the crew that was doing the cutting that we need to speed this up, we need to be more decisive with what we’re doing.”
It got to the point that they had to make a quick decision. Newkirk was getting blood ready for Amos to make up for the blood she was losing.
They got Amos into an ambulance and put her to sleep because it was the safest way to transport her. The team knew she was going straight into the operating room when they got her to the hospital.
Amos was in the hospital for a few days and was sent home shortly after her treatments.
“I started physical therapy about a week after I got home,” Amos said. “We started off simple, just putting more weight on it.”
Now, Amos walks with two crutches but has been practicing walking with just one for the past two weeks. Last Friday, she was able to walk without crutches for a few steps.
Monday was the first time Amos met the flight team that saved her life.
“It felt pretty good to be able to actually see the people and thank them for saving my life today,” Amos said. “If I wouldn’t have been able to get some blood, I probably would have bled out internally.”
Moving forward, Amos wants to get back to doing what a person her age does normally.
“I’m hoping to be able to get back to school,” Amos said. “I’m still online. We go to the doctor on Dec. 20 and the 27 to make sure that I am healing well and I can hopefully go back to school after Christmas break.”
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