Help Pam Rebuild Her Life

Beth Lawrence is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Pamela Flanagan.

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I was nearly hit by a drunk driver on I-95. Pam was actually hit by him!

I watched in my rearview mirror in horror as he wove in and out, driving 100-120 mph in all the lanes--including the emergency lanes on both sides. He nearly hit me. He swerved, and nearly hit dozens of vehicles ahead for as far as I could see him. I called the police to report him. Five minutes later, two overturned vehicles lay in the ditch on the side of I-95. I pulled to the side of the road. I reached in through the broken back window of the guy who had narrowly missed hitting me and dozens of others just minutes before -- his radio volume at 10. I was the one who took his pulse. He was dead. The alcohol smell was strong.

I ran to the second vehicle, and crawled below to see if anyone in there was alive - how could they be? That guy had been driving 120, and the devastation was massive to both vehicles. I was in awe when the driver, Pam -- a stranger to me at the time -- was hanging upside down from her seat belt, alive and speaking, but terrified. Squatting below her SUV in the ditch, we held hands. I prayed with her, and kept hearing the scripture, "not a single bone broken" and kept telling her that. When the first responders arrived, Pam screamed for me not to let go of her hand. I didn't want to either, but I had to --they needed to cut her out of her vehicle with the jaws of life, and get her to Shock Trauma. I followed the ambulance down to Shock Trauma in Baltimore and got to know her family members.

Not a single bone of hers had been broken - what a miracle! BUT that was just the beginning of a harrowing experience. She lost almost every single thing that day, in that one moment. Her career as a stat IV technician at a trauma hospital was shattered due to head injury. She had to learn to concentrate again, to walk despite severe and constant dizziness, to function outside her home without fear. It is an ongoing, daily battle.The guy who hit Pam had done this before. He had a history of DUIs and was --of course -- UNINSURED. Pam's own insurance has covered only the smallest of expenses.

One would think there are systems and programs in place to help innocent victims in situations like this, but she keeps getting "there is nothing we can do to help you." Pam is struggling to simply make ends meet, to keep her home or put food on her table; to pay for heat or phone service.

Please help -- this should never happen to anyone. It could have been me--it could have been any of us. Please help Pam!