|
Family grateful for quick action in August crash |
|
Thursday, 12 February 2009 |
|
 The Morning News / Daniel Iverson
Shelley resident Clark Christensen speaks with members of Kristin Shaw’s family after receiving a certificate of appreciation from Idaho State Police Thursday. Christensen helped to pull Shaw from a burning vehicle after an Aug. 22 accident south of Idaho Falls. His identity as the second man involved in the rescue was unknown until only recently.
IDAHO FALLS — Idaho State Police Thursday recognized the lifesaving actions of a Shelley man, the second individual credited with rescuing a Utah woman from a burning vehicle whose identity was unknown for months after the Aug. 22 accident.
Family grateful for quick action in August crash
By Daniel Iverson
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
IDAHO FALLS — Idaho State Police Thursday recognized the lifesaving actions of a Shelley man, the second individual credited with rescuing a Utah woman from a burning vehicle whose identity was unknown for months after the Aug. 22 accident.
“There is no doubt in my mind your paths crossed for a reason,” Lt. Chris Weadick said to 53-year-old Clark Christensen before presenting a certificate of appreciation.
Police already presented the lifesaving award to Ucon resident Tracy Dursteler for coming to Shaw’s aid, but the identity of the other man who helped was unknown until Christensen’s sister heard the news and called police to say it might be her brother.
According to police reports, Utah resident Kristin Shaw was driving north along Interstate 15 about eight miles south of Idaho Falls and drifted off the road, striking a guardrail and causing the vehicle to ignite while trapping the apparently unconscious driver inside.
Christensen said he was taking a nap and had considered going to bed for the night but decided to get something to eat first.
Traveling along a frontage road, he noticed the accident and stopped, flagging other drivers to assist. Dursteler responded to the call.
The accident was difficult to see from a distance because of the darkness, Christensen said, and it was only visible due to the fire.
“Nobody could see it until they got close,” he said.
Christensen reported picking up a large rock and attempting to break the driver’s window with it.
He said the rock was resting by the front wheel “like it was meant to be,” and he hit the window with it about five times before it broke.
But Shaw was trapped by her seat belt, so the two climbed inside of the burning vehicle to release it and pulled her to safety.
Shaw was treated at the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center for smoke inhalation and other minor injuries and was released later the same night.
Trooper Josh Tuttle, who investigated the incident and responded to the scene after the two men arrived, said in a report he had no doubt their actions saved Shaw’s life.
“It is my opinion, with 100 percent certainty, that if Shaw had been inside the vehicle more than a minute or two more she would have died inside the vehicle or suffered severe injuries.”
Shaw was unable to attend Thursday’s presentation due to health problems unrelated to the accident, but her mother Lin Carlson handed a letter from her daughter to Christensen reportedly expressing her gratitude.
Carlson said her daughter’s survival — without any broken bones or other major injuries — was a “miracle.”
Recounting the night’s events, Christensen said the experience was scary — increasingly so the longer he thought about it afterward.
He reported being worried the vehicle would explode.
“If it blew up, it would be all over,” he said. But with nothing feeding the fire, he said he had enough time to pull Shaw to safety.
Other details he doesn’t remember as well.
“It went so fast it’s hard to say,” he said.
Asked whether he agrees with police about being a hero, Christensen said he never really thought about it.
“It just happened,” he said.
|
|
Last Updated ( Friday, 27 February 2009 )
|
