Woman survives car crash, meets first responders who rescued her
An alleged drunk driver going the wrong way on Highway 370 hit Chasity Sims. Now out of the hospital, Sims is thanking the men that pulled her from the wreckage.
An alleged drunk driver going the wrong way on Highway 370 hit Chasity Sims. Now out of the hospital, Sims is thanking the men that pulled her from the wreckage.
An alleged drunk driver going the wrong way on Highway 370 hit Chasity Sims. Now out of the hospital, Sims is thanking the men that pulled her from the wreckage.
Almost two months ago, a head-on crash left Chasity Sims with critical injuries. After hours in surgery and weeks in the hospital, Tuesday, she thanked the first responders who rescued her.
On the evening of April 4, an alleged drunk driver going the wrong way on Highway 370 crashed into Sims.
Firefighters rescued her as she was pinned under her dashboard with a broken leg, unconscious and losing blood.
Now out of the hospital and smiling, Sims got to say thank you.
"Complete gratitude. I don't think a lot of people get the opportunity to meet, you know, people who are responsible for saving their lives potentially," Sims said.
Sims and her family treated the Papillion Fire Department to a barbeque lunch and got to hear what the scene of the crash looked like through the eyes of those who saved her.
"I was the very first one to poke my head in that window seat, how she was doing and it's probably an image that I'll never forget," Papillion fire captain and paramedic Derek Larson said.
Sims says she's focusing on the future.
"In life, in general, I try to look for the positive. You know, I think somebody asked me, are you, you know, are you angry? Are you angry at this person? And I'm not, like I don't waste my energy on thinking about her or the circumstances. I have to concentrate on getting better," she said.
But now, she has to learn how to walk again. And when she does, take a step forward from the scars of the crash.
"Hoping, you know, within a couple weeks I can walk with a walker and then maybe a cane. And, you know, by mid-summer, my birthday's end of June, so that's a good date to set some goals around," she said.
The suspect in the crash is Kristin Gragert.
Police say she blew three times the legal limit and she has two prior DUI convictions.
She's scheduled to be in court July 10 in Sarpy County.