MEDWAY, MASS. (WHDH) - A nurse who jumped in to help a mail carrier after her van overturned in a crash in Medway last week spoke to 7NEWS about the tense moments she was on scene before first responders arrived.
Michelle Deonarine said she had left her home five minutes up the road on her day off when a pickup truck crashed into a mail van from behind, sending it rolling onto its side into a pile of mulch along Route 109. The mail carrier who was driving the van fell out of the window and became pinned underneath the vehicle.
“I just hear a screech and a crash and then I see the mail van roll over, and then I saw her hair underneath the truck and I realized she was pinned under.” Deonarine said.
Deonarine is a pediatric nurse at Boston Children’s Hospital, and said she did not hesitate to jump in and help during the emergency situation. She said she was able to keep the postal worker calm and talking until first responders arrived.
“I just stayed with her, talking to her, doing my medical assessment as best as I could,” she said. “My first thing was worried about her brain, and I wanted to know if she had a head injury and thats why it was important to me to keep her talking and make sure she was making logical sense.”
Deonarine said her main priority was keeping the victim awake and alert.
“I just started asking her the most random questions – like what her name was, of course, if she had any pets, if there was anybody we wanted to call. And then I noticed she had a Patriots emblem on her watch, and we were talking about the Patriots and how she worked at Gillette Stadium. I just wanted to make sure she was okay and I held her hand and guided her through the process until help arrived.”
The mail carrier and the driver of the pickup truck were both taken to the hospital after the crash, and officials said they are both expected to survive.
“If that was me under a car I hope someone would stop and help me,” Deonarine said. “At the end of the day I love to help people, it’s in my DNA, so there was no way that I would ever sleep at night knowing I drove past something where I could have helped and made a difference.”
Deonarine said she hopes to meet up with the woman when she is recovered.
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