BASIN — Any first responder, emergency or rescue personnel has a fear of responding to a call involving a loved one. That exact scenario played out last Friday for an Atwood Ambulance Services driver.

Timmy Kennedy of Basin, who is a former EMT, having worked in Cody for nearly a year in 1997-1998, is working on re-certifying as an EMT and is currently working as a driver for Atwood Ambulance.

On Friday, an ambulance crew in which he was the driver was just finishing up a call on U.S. Highway 20 north of Basin.

“I just happened to look at my phone and I saw I had a voice mail. I stepped outside and to my horror I heard Pamela’s (his wife) voice ‘Honey I need you.’ It wasn’t the usual ‘answer your phone I’m irritated and you have your ringer shut off again’ tone,” Kennedy said.

He said he tried her back and they played phone tag three or four times before he finally reached his wife of 13 years.

“Between the fearful sobs and I’m sorrys I could only decipher ‘glass in eyes’ and ‘between Greybull and Basin,’” Kennedy said.

He added that he knew she had gone to Greybull to run errands and was likely on her way back to Basin as they were supposed to meet up to run additional errands together.

After hollering at the two EMTs that they had to go, he had to make a choice when exiting the scene from the previous call. Kennedy said he had a choice of going left to Greybull or right to Basin. He doesn’t know what led him to turn left, but he did and about a mile down the road, near the KZMQ radio station he found his wife inside their red Toyota Sienna van.

“I parked the ambulance head-on into oncoming traffic as I have many times before. I remember calling dispatch and saying we were on scene and needed law enforcement for traffic control. The rest is a blur,” Kennedy said. “I know I was screaming and barking orders.”

He said the hood of the van had come open while Pamela Kennedy was driving. While she was only going between 65 mph to 70 mph in a 70 mph zone the force was enough to cause the hood to hit the windshield and cause a hyperextension of the hinges, he said.

“Pamela’s reaction was to hit the brakes. These both combined, the traveling of the hood into the passenger compartment and her forward motion toward the now broken windshield, caused her head to impact the rearview mirror,” Timmy Kennedy recalled.

He said he later found evidence that she had struck a pheasant on the highway and it likely flew up hitting the hood causing it to come up.

Five days later, in refelctionKennedy said, “Honestly a lot of it is still a blur.” He said since he had just finished an EMT course a lot of things about a crash scene were fresh in his mind. He checked on his wife and assessed her needs, as he was asking for a KED, one of the EMTs was asking if he needed a KED (Kendrick Extrication Device) used for neck injuries. He said his wife was complaining of head and neck pain.

He said in retrospect he should not have been taking charge of the scene and helping assess his wife. He said that’s one reason there is always three members of an ambulance crew.

Kennedy said when they were pulling his wife out of the car she became unresponsive, she had passed out but was partially responding to verbal stimulus.

Because she was unresponsive, they moved quickly to get the ambulance headed to the hospital. Kennedy said as they loaded his wife in the ambulance one of the EMTs told Kennedy to get in the back but his response was “She needs you more than I need to be back there.”

He drove to the hospital and, again in retrospect, he said, he probably should not have been driving either but he was working on instinct at the time.

Timmy Kennedy said Pamela suffered a concussion but no skeletal damage and her neck is fine but sore from the seat belt.

“We always tell people to buckle up but we need to tell them to make sure it’s fitting you correctly; it’s tight for a reason to keep you in there,” Kennedy said. He said he thinks if his wife did not have her seat belt on the accident would have turned out drastically different.

Pamela went to work yesterday but after a doctor visit Tuesday she was told to go home and rest, Timmy Kennedy said.

As an ambulance driver, Kennedy has not responded to any car crashes since his wife’s accident last Friday. He’s hoping he won’t think about that crash when the call comes. “I hope training kicks in and I won’t have to think and I’ll just work on instinct.”

In looking back, he said, “After all this, I just want to tell people wear your seat belt, wear it properly and help your fellow man.

“Hug your loved ones, you don’t know what’s going to happen. And as a driver be aware, buckle up, even on short, eight-mile jaunts you can lose your life.”

The Kennedys married in 2003 and have raised four children together.

Timmy Kennedy’s sister, Polly Kennedy Peckham, has set up a GoFundMe account at https://www.gofundme.com/2exl0us to help the family with medical bills and a new vehicle.

Timmy Kennedy said while he appreciates his sister’s efforts and those who have already pledged $750 he wants people to share his story and “pay it forward.”

“It’s not turning into a tragedy for us. If you don’t want to give to us. Give to a neighbor, give a hand up to someone you know,” he said.

He added the 123 shares humbles him more than any money they may receive.