BRAZIL, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — An EMT in Brazil is back on the road after an accident in May nearly claimed her life.
Roxie Wilson was welcomed back to work by the first responders who saved her.
When Roxie walked into work on Wednesday, it wasn’t just a regular shift; it was a miracle.
“A lot of us in the EMS family, PD, fire, we don’t like the recognition, we do our job,” Roxie said. “But now I see it. I see it and I recognize all these guys, especially the ones who did the CPR, and saved my life,” she added.
As we previously reported, on May 21, Roxie and her eight-month-old child were driving home when another driver ran a stop sign and t-boned her vehicle. The crash left her with no pulse.
“He (Brazil Firefighter Cody Byers) said, ‘Heyman, she’s under arrest, we got to start working.’ So, we pull her out and start getting to work,” Caden Heyman, a Firefighter and EMT with the Brazil City Fire Department, said.
“We placed her on the road, and we started performing CPR and started our life-saving measures,” Brazil City Firefighter Cody Byers said.
Those measures were successful. Roxie regained her pulse. Her co-workers at STAR ambulance took over.
“We put her on the truck, and we went to St. Vincent Clay to meet AirEvac there, STAR Paramedic Justin Stimson said. “We did everything in the back of the truck that we could,” he added.
Stormy weather kept the helicopter grounded.
“The pilot told us that they could not fly, so we and the AirEvac Crew took her emergently down to Eskenazi ,” Stimson said.
Eskenazi is a hospital in Indianapolis. It’s where Roxie was placed on life support. She was critical but stable.
“It’s like a .003% chance of survival after an (cardiac) arrest like that,” Roxie said her doctors explained.
Roxie said her cardiac arrest was caused by the traumatic impact of the accident, known as commotio cordis, a disruption of heart rhythm that occurs as a result of a blow to the area directly over the heart. The same condition that Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin sustained during a tackle back in 2023.
“It was 108 hours from cardiac arrest to walking out of the hospital,” Roxie said.
Now, just 105 days later, Roxie is back in uniform. Her fellow first responders across the city of Brazil are grateful to welcome her back.
“A very thankful moment that we had the people there we did that day,” Byers said. “You see the end result, that Roxie’s back with us,” he added while pointing to Roxie in the company of fellow first responders.
“She’s alive. Her husband has a wife, her kids have a mom,” Heyman said.
“She’s come a long way; it’s amazing,” Brazil City Police Department Patrolman Timothy Rudisel said. “Anytime Roxie and I are on scene together, it’s a lot of fun. She’s always joyful. So, great to see her back, great to have her back,” he added.
The first responders who provided CPR have been credited for saving Roxie’s life.
“But we’re not heroes. It’s just part of our job,” Byers said.
“I would give my life for these guys, honestly,” Roxie said. “I would step up for any of these guys and the many, many more people who stepped up and are not here.”
For Brazil’s first responders, Roxie’s return isn’t just another call; it’s about resilience and the people who never gave up on her.
Roxie tells us that her baby suffered no injuries in the wreck.
She was able to return to work with no restrictions.
Comments