KAMIAH, Idaho, Sept. 19, 2009
Woman Impaled in Neck by Branch Is OK
Says It "Came Out of Nowhere" During Drive; Tree Branch Was Removed During Six-Hour Operation
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Twenty-year-old Michelle Childers was out for a relaxing drive near her home in Idaho when the unthinkable happened: she was impaled by a 2-foot-long tree branch. (CBS)
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Quick thinking by Childers' husband and by medical staff, coupled with sheer luck, helped save her life. (CBS)
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Michelle Childers, who survived impalement in the neck by a tree branch, on The Early Show Saturday Edition. (CBS)
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Michelle Childers, 20, and her husband were driving down a rural road along a river in the north-central part of the state on Sept. 5 when a spruce tree crashed through the passenger side window of their pickup truck.
Childers, a Kamiah, Ida. native, said on "The Early Show Saturday Edition" that, "It came out of nowhere. We had went around a blind corner and we're assuming that this tree was stuck out into the road and the way we took the corner, it just came in through the passenger window and stuck into my neck, and then broke off on the cab of the truck. But it happened so fast and it was loud, it was like an explosion. And I didn't know what happened.
"I didn't feel it go in," Childers told co-anchor Erica Hill. "It just felt like a lot of pressure, like maybe a tree had fallen on me and was pinning me against the seat, is what I thought had happened. And then I had asked (her husband) Daniel (who happens to work in the timber industry), 'My gosh, what happened?' And he told me, 'It's in your neck.' And at that point, I was just -- 'Take a deep breath and we'll get through this.' "
With no cell phone service in the area, the couple drove to the Lochsa Lodge, near the Idaho-Montana border, to call for help and arrived about an hour after the tree limb went into her.
Daniel told Hill that driving that long under such pressure "was really bad. I about passed out a couple times."
While Childers waited to be flown by helicopter to St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, Mont., she said a nurse and her husband were staying at the lodge and tried to calm her down.
"So, here I am sitting in a pickup with all these wonderful people around me and a 13-inch spruce limb with branches coming off it still in my neck," Childers told KHQ-TV.
"She says, 'You look OK, and you're going to be fine.' And I believed her," Childers recalled for Hill. "And she said, 'You've been like this for a couple hours now. You're not bleeding. You haven't lost consciousness. You're going to be just fine.' And then, not too long after that is when I heard the helicopter. And was like, 'OK. I am going to be OK."
The 13-inch tree limb was removed from her neck during a six-hour surgery, Childers says, and she was left wearing a large piece of gauze on the scar on left side of her neck.
She told Hill she feels "lucky and grateful. ... I can't believe I'm here to look at the pictures" of her with the branch in her neck.
Childers has the branch, but says the smell is still tough for her. And because of that, no Christmas tree this year. "I just don't want it in my house. It would be uncomfortable, I think," she remarked to Hill.
Childers doesn't have insurance. Friends have set up an account for the couple at a local Sterling Savings bank location to help pay for her medical expenses.
© MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Add a Comment See all 37 Comments
- Under the Obama health care plan, she would be covered.
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- bonjour erica, michelle
les choses arrivent souvent et toujours comme ça, il faut seulement dire que c'est le destin, michelle vous avez eu beaucoup de chance, c'est un
nouveau depart pour vous, une nouvelle vie, vous avez frolé la mort, vous etes saine et sauve, remerciez le bon dieu..je vous souhaite une bonne santé..au revoir - Reply to this comment
- by Loretta52 September 19, 2009 11:10 PM EDT
Just like peyton0921 says "You try driving the back roads in Idaho" Then you might realize that the road Daniel & Michelle were on is more like a trail. Logging companies go in and stamp out a road, get the job done, and get out. That's where they were. Take a vacation and check it out, then send us a comment. You really have no idea, just a bad opinion!!!
I have driven on many dirt roads, back roads, logging roads, and one thing I learned is that you drive very slowly, and very carefully. You never know what could be coming up on the next curve. - Reply to this comment
- Thankyou to everyone who actually has a heart and something nice to say. This was a tramatic experience and all people can do is make fun of it. wow
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- And men talk about women drivers. geez
Usually anytime a woman is in a car accident, it's usually the man's fault. He's usually trying to pass her and ends up cutting her off.
Everytime I'm in the fast lane and a guy is in the slow lane just doddling along, as soon as I pass him, all of a sudden it's the pedal to the metal. He comes out of sleep mode and is going to beat hell to pass me. What do ya call that? - Reply to this comment
- by stuart-johns September 19, 2009 7:17 PM EDT
Did they crash into the tree or did the tree crash into them?
Personally, I think the husband just doesn't know how to drive and he crashed into the tree. : ) Some people just shouldn't be allowed on the road! - Reply to this comment
- by rwsmith29456 September 19, 2009 5:59 PM EDT
No, she would be on a waiting list.
Another ignorant American. It's not hard to understand why things are so bad there.
No, she wouldn't be on a waiting list. She would have been flown to a hospital and looked after immediately. She wouldn't have to worry about ANYTHING because she would have health care. - Reply to this comment
- It would be a lot simpler to say they sideswiped the tree rather than claiming the tree jumped out into the road and hit them.
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- Now if she lived in Canada, no one would have to pay for the medical expenses.
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- <<<<The Obama administration is now typing up the letter fining her $3800 for not having health insurance.
They expect it to be in the mail on Monday.>>>
Why is it when Obama haters try to be funny they just sound pathetic?
Back to the topic of the board, what a horrible thing to happen and I am glad the woman is alive. Something like that could happen to anyone. A woman not far from where I live was killed when an oak tree fell on her car. No storm, no nothing, it was rotted in the middle from disease and decided to fall over just as the woman drove by at 30 MPH in a neighborhood. - Reply to this comment
- They sound like your average stupid rednecks. "Yea, this tree came out of nowhere and rammed right into my neck." Idiots.
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- I'd beat it up with or without the tree branch in her neck! :)
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- The Obama administration is now typing up the letter fining her $3800 for not having health insurance.
They expect it to be in the mail on Monday. - Reply to this comment
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- by oiaf0831 September 19, 2009 12:23 PM EDT
"The Obama administration is now typing up the letter fining her $3800 for not having health insurance."
There is nothing quite so pathetic as a republican trying to twist the news to suit their political agenda! You are a very, very sad specimen, oiaf0831.
- "The Obama administration is now typing up the letter fining her $3800 for not having health insurance." -- by oiaf0831 September 19, 2009 12:23 PM EDT
There is nothing so pathetic as a republican trying to twist the news to support their evil polical agenda. You are a very, very poor example of a human being, oiaf0831.
- There is nothing quite so pathetic as those who call the truth "evil."
Like it or not - that is the bill in Congress.
- by oiaf0831 September 19, 2009 12:23 PM EDT
- Michelle Childers, 20, and her husband were driving down a rural road along a river in the north-central part of the state on Sept. 5 when a spruce tree crashed through the passenger side window of their pickup truck.
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So they were just driving down the road minding their own business when suddenly, out of nowhere, a tree tried to carjack them. LOL
Did the tree crash into them or did they crash into the tree? Ahh CBS, you guys are too funny.
Anyway I am glad the poor woman is okay. Tell you hubby to drive more carefully. - Reply to this comment
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- This girl lives in the same rural town that I grew up in, and has been an important fixture in many lives. Who are you to question what happened in the car accident? Why can you not just recognize that it is a miracle that she is alive? It all goes back to Kindergarten. If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all. Her husband, who I know well is a terrific driver. You try driving the back roads in Idaho. Its not an easy thing to do.
- by peyton0921 September 19, 2009 2:55 PM EDT
Take a chill pill. I was criticizing the author of the story. I cut and pasted from the article and commented on the way the sentence was structured. Did you get past grade school?
And I'll ask you the same thing. Did they crash into the tree or did the tree crash into them? You dork!
- Just like peyton0921 says "You try driving the back roads in Idaho" Then you might realize that the road Daniel & Michelle were on is more like a trail. Logging companies go in and stamp out a road, get the job done, and get out. That's where they were. Take a vacation and check it out, then send us a comment. You really have no idea, just a bad opinion!!!
- She is really lucky, this could have struck her cartiod artery .
And we don't know why they don't have health care, but this just goes to show you should have it whatever you have to give up to afford it. - Reply to this comment
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- Yes, we should be willing to give up our homes, our childrens' education - and our freedom.
Those who would sacrifice their freedom for security deserve neither.
- Yes, we should be willing to give up our homes, our childrens' education - and our freedom.
- She is lucky she can rely on friends to pay for her medical expenses. I wonder what her situation would have been if she wasn't a pretty, white young woman confronted with a extra-ordinary accident which then ended in the national news. Would she have to pay her own medical expenses? Too bad she didn't have health insurance and thus the peace of mind that would have companied her but wait ... maybe in the future she will. And then if she was just any ordinary middle aged woman injuried in a car accident, worrying about the expenses wouldn't have mattered. Peace of mind.
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- The Obama administration is now typing up the letter fining her $3800 for not having health insurance.
They expect it to be in the mail on Monday.
- UK what does pretty and white have to do with anything, why is race being brought in? This is an extraordinary accident and she survived. Regardless of race, gender and economic status, many do and do not have insurance that may or may not cover this situation.
- UK.. did you just play a race card?? I think it's too bad that she didn't have health insurance also, but read between the lines...
1. They are out on a long leisurely drive so they have money to burn expensive gasoline and contribute to global warming.
2. They have a long drive to get in range of cell service which implies they (one or both maybe) own cell phones.
3. He works in the timber industry so he has a job (with income I assume).
4. His vehicle is damaged (pretty bad if it came thru the windshield) and I feel sure the article would have made mention if the husband lost his job because he could not drive to work. I also bet he had insurance on his truck (most states and some lenders require it).
I'm glad that she is ok, and it is unfortunate that she has to pay her own medical bills, but it maybe she is uninsured by choice rather than lack of money.
- by KPeters_from_UK September 19, 2009 10:14 AM EDT
She is lucky she can rely on friends to pay for her medical expenses. I wonder what her situation would have been if she wasn't a pretty, white young woman confronted with a extra-ordinary accident which then ended in the national news. Would she have to pay her own medical expenses?
What would happen to her? The same thing that happened to the young black boy in my town that was hit by a car, and the Hispanic man who was hurt at work, and the young white couple who tried to save the life of their brand new baby girl and all the others in this country that have had help from neighbors and friends; people who cared enough to have cake sales and dances and all kinds of events to raise money to help them out with their medical emergencies.
KPeters_from_UK, have you ever heard the old saying: It is far better for one to keep their mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt"? Perhaps you should actually study another culture before you decide to attack it. It is a common practice in the U.S. for family, neighbors, friends and even total strangers to jump in the help others in need. It is not common practice for the networks to advertise the events. If they did, it would be the ONLY thing they would have time to talk about on the 6pm news.
- For one she's not relying on anyone to help, if people choose to then so be it. What's it to you. Pretty also has nothing to do with it. She was a centimeter from death. So...people are interested, duh. You said yourself its an extra-ordinary accident. Im sure if she could afford health insurance she would have it, just like everyone else in the world; who doesn't and cant afford it. She's not on tv to get a hand out. She got a call and they wanted her story. Why not go to New York and tell it?? I guess you probably wouldn't if it was a similar situation in your life, right??
- if he is a logger his for profit insurance would be terribly expensive as he is in a high risk occupation. IF for profit insurance would cover him at all. If they had for profit insurance it would probably deny coverage for any number of reasons
- There is nothing to this story other than a one in a zillion miracle. Not race, not attractiveness. Hey KPeters, are you aware that northern Idaho is the home of the US white power movement? You could have thrown that in there too and called her a racist bigot. Do you think CBS went out of its way to stick the healthcare info in there? Of course they did. If she had excellent coverage paid for by her employer that she was happy with, do you think they would have put that little factoid in the story? Of course not. One thing is for sure, if that branch is an inch over, all the health care in the world would not have kept her alive. Lucky gal.
- The Obama administration is now typing up the letter fining her $3800 for not having health insurance.
