RI woman thanks paramedic for saving her life

By EMS1 Staff

SCITUATE, R.I. — Seven weeks after a woman was seriously injured in a horseback riding incident, she has credited paramedics with saving her life. 

Sandy Kelley suffered 10 broken ribs and a collapsed lung after she was knocked off her horse and hit a fence Oct. 17. Doctors said a volunteer paramedic likely saved Kelley's life, reported the Valley Breeze. 

"That was very lucky," Kelley said. "There must have been an angel on my shoulder."

Kelley's husband immediately called 911, and paramedic Joseph Krewko and Mike Conti arrived to the scene. Krewko works as a volunteer per diem in Scituate, but works full-time for the Fall River Fire Department.

While Kelley was being transported by ambulance to the hospital, Krewko performed a thoracostomy. Kelley spent 11 days in the hospital, eight of which were in the ICU.

After the incident, doctors told Kelley she was lucky a paramedic happened to be on-call and responded; there are four different volunteer fire and rescue departments in Scituate.

"You wouldn't get a [paramedic] every single time," Krewko said. "It's a toss-up of who's going to come to your house."

Kelley brought coffee and donuts to Krewko and Conti at their station last week to thank them for saving her life. They took a selfie together. 

Kelley said she doesn't remember much during the ambulance ride to the hospital. She did say the incident "does make you look at life differently. You value every day, every friend. Everybody has been wonderful."

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