| This story has been corrected. See below. |
Combat veteran Natasha Coelho had trained to fight for her life overseas. At home in Hawaii she battled to stay alive in a hospital bed she barely remembers lying in.
Coelho, who was found unresponsive after a January motorcycle accident, credits emergency medical technician Kimberly Higa and paramedic Jon Kusano with making sure she had a chance at surviving the crash.
"As a U.S. Army combat veteran with two tours to Iraq, Jon and Kim, you are my heroes," the 27-year-old said during a ceremony Monday at the state Capitol.
The event served as a kickoff for the state’s observation of National Emergency Medical Services Week, which runs through Saturday.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie said that in 2013, Honolulu EMS teams responded to more than 71,000 911 calls. He said incidents such as Coelho’s highlight responders’ ability to "carry through when everything in you is put under the greatest possible strain."
Coelho was riding on Kahuhipa Street in Kaneohe when she clipped a parked car, flew off her motorcycle and wound up pinned under a parked truck.
With the critical injuries she sustained — a fractured skull; brain swelling; damage to her carotid artery; torn joints; fractured pelvic, back and collar bones; and a torn bladder — Coelho said she should not have survived.
"Today I live with screws and a metal plate in my body, and there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t feel pain," Coelho said. "But I have to remind myself constantly that, hey, this is just pain, you’re lucky to be alive.’"
Other events planned for EMS Week include the opening of the Queen’s Medical Center’s West Oahu hospital Tuesday, along with an event at Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park honoring a softball league that acted fast to save a heart attack patient’s life during a game, and a news conference to support a new public service announcement asking drivers to move out of the way for emergency vehicles.
Nearly two years ago Abercrombie signed a bill into law that requires motorists to move over a lane or slow down when approaching stopped emergency vehicles such as police cars, firetrucks and ambulances.
A push to pass such a law came after Honolulu police officers Eric Fontes and Garret Davis died while on traffic stops on Oahu highways.
In the first four months that it was enforced, police issued 57 traffic citations to motorists who violated the "move over" law.
CORRECTION
Kimberly Higa is an emergency medical technician and Jon Kusano is a paramedic. An earlier version of this story and the story in Tuesday’s paper reversed their titles.
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ON VACATION: June Watanabe is on vacation. Her column Kokua Line returns Thursday.
