DENHAM SPRINGS — A woman is glad to be alive after a horrific accident on the morning of Aug. 24, leaving her with nearly 30 broken bones. She is especially grateful for her boyfriend, whose quick thinking and action helped to save her life before emergency responders arrived.
Amber Pace and her boyfriend, Michael Hodges, were driving on Joe May Road, heading toward Hammack Road in Denham Springs, when she tells UWK that the brakes of their Chevy 1500 truck stopped working. Because there was a car at the stop sign in front of them, Hodges, who was driving, attempted to steer toward an open yard, she said.
However, as soon as the tires touched the ditch, the truck flipped.
“We rolled the first time, and that’s when I hit the windshield and broke my eye socket,” Pace recalled.
When the truck rolled again, Pace was ejected out of the passenger window. The truck landed on top of her and pinned her chest. Hodges was able to get out of the truck at that point and his only injury was a busted lip.
When he got out, Pace looked up at him from where she lay on the ground.
“I was like, ‘Baby, I can’t breathe,’ and I was gasping and gurgling at that point,” she told UWK.
Hodges immediately sprang into action and lifted up the truck enough for Pace to scoot out from beneath. The truck had landed in an ant pile, and because she is allergic to ant bites, he then carried her about 10 feet away from the vehicle.
When he set her down, Pace knew something wasn’t right.
“At that point I knew, I’m damaged; something’s wrong. I’m hurt, and all I could do is scream, ‘Help! Help me. I can’t breathe’.”
Firefighters arrived on the scene quickly after and AirMed was also called. Pace said the firefighters did an amazing job with helping her and getting her onto the stretcher for the AirMed. She was brought to Our Lady of the Lake where she learned the extent of her injuries.
She fractured 27 bones, all in her upper body, which included 12 ribs on her right side. Both of her lungs were punctured, as well, but the left lung only had a minor hole. Her right lung is still collapsed, however, and she had a tube to help drain it. The tube was recently removed but doctors are continuing to monitor her because of the pneumothorax (collapsed lung).
“It’s one of those situations where, if he wasn’t there to lift the truck off me, I would have died on scene,” Pace said. “He saved my life; he really did.”
Pace remains in the hospital at this time and awaits more information about starting rehabilitation. Her family has set up a GoFundMe to help pay for medical expenses and rent while she is unable to work. Pace also has four children. She also has a CashApp: $pamberrr
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