Their stories: The woman in a crash near Caldwell, the state trooper who saved her

HER STORY

It was early in the morning July 3, and Dora Ramirez was on Interstate 84 near Caldwell, on her way to pick up her husband in Wilder. At about 3 a.m. she dozed off at the wheel.

She awoke tumbling about 200 feet from her white Dodge Caravan as it hurtled into a ditch.

The 34-year-old lay on the ditch bank in pitch-black darkness, unable to move, her body broken.

Several yards away, cars and trucks whizzed by. She yelled for help, but no one could hear or see her.

She was having difficulty breathing. She could not move her legs. Blood gushed from a wound on her wrist.

“I knew right away I needed to stop the bleeding,” she said. She packed dirt into the gaping hole and then firmly pressed her hand over the wound. The bleeding slowed.

Trying to stay warm, she folded her arms across her chest and breathed into them.

Time passed.

Her cell phone lay nearby, frequently ringing, but she could not crawl to it.

She thought about her children – her daughters Destiny, 6, and China, 9, and her son Moses, 15.

“I thought, I cannot die out here like this my children I knew I needed to stay awake,” she said. “I prayed out loud to stay awake.”

Music played from the car’s stereo. A song stuck with her: “I Will Remember You.”

More time passed. Hours. The sun rose.

A water bottle that had rolled out of the van had landed near her shoulder. She contemplated throwing it at a passing car, hoping someone would see it careening through the air and stop to investigate. But she decided that staying hydrated was more important. “I only took small sips. I did not know how long I would be there.”

HIS STORY

At around 6:40 a.m. July 3, Idaho State Police Trooper Pat Mooney was on his way to Fruitland for a meeting.

He noticed some fresh-looking skid marks and pulled over to check them out. He saw some broken glass and some debris but no car.

“At first I thought there had been a recent accident and it had not been cleaned up well,” Mooney said.

But he could not let it go.

“It didn’t look right,” he said.

He got out of his cruiser and walked down the embankment. Through the shrubs he saw a wheel, so he continued on.

He came upon the upended van.

“I expected the worst. It looked bad.”

Then he heard a voice, a cry for help.

“She was just so cold. She was going into shock, blood was pooling at her side,” he said. “She was in a lot of pain I kept yelling at her to hang in there. I made her promise to hang in there.”

THEIR STORY

Eight days later, Mooney paid his second visit to Ramirez at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center.

“I’m just making sure she’s keeping up with her promise to hang in there,” he said as they both broke into smiles.

As they visited, the two just as often fought back tears.

The accident left Ramirez with a broken leg, broken back, fractured pelvis and a wound to her arm. She has had two surgeries, one to her repair arm and one to repair her back and hip.

She is still in a lot of pain. She knows rehab will be challenging, but her determination to heal is unwavering: “I know I have to do it.”

The bond and admiration between Ramirez and Mooney is clear.

“You saved my life,” she told Mooney. “We talk about you all the time. You will always be in our lives.”

Ramirez praised Mooney’s skill and dedication to his job.

“People do not appreciate police officers,” Ramirez said. “I want people to know he saved my life.”

Mooney credits Ramirez’s determination and level-headedness for her survival.

“She is one tough girl,” he said. “She did not panic.”

Her survival has been profound for Mooney, who said he has seen many violent deaths in his 30 years of law enforcement. “It is good for me to see someone make it.”

Both credit God.

“It was divine intervention that he was there,” said Ramirez.

Mooney doesn’t disagree.

That meeting in Fruitland that brought the trooper to that stretch of interstate? It had been canceled, but no one called Mooney to tell him.

“He was meant to be there,” Ramirez said. “God sent you there to find me.”

“God uses his instruments,” Mooney replied.

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