Positivity: First responders saved her life, woman insists
Sunday, July 01, 2007
DeAnn Oswald suffered severe blood loss after falling.
June 2 was like any other Saturday for DeAnn Oswald. It was a routine, relaxing weekend at home with her husband and two boys. At least it was before she stepped into her bedroom and stumbled.
Oswald threw out her arms as she fell and to her horror, snagged her left forearm on the corner of the fireplace.
“It sliced it wide open,” Oswald said. “I was dripping blood everywhere.”
Township police officer Doug Schlegel has been responding to calls like hers for 25 years. Even he was shocked by what he saw.
“This was one of the nastiest (injuries) I’ve seen,” Schlegel said. “It ranks up there as one of the worst.”
The cut ran from her wrist to about an inch below her elbow and sank through her soft tissue all the way to the bone.
Oswald’s stumble — she blamed it on a not-so-sturdy pair of flip-flops — severed several tendons and the muscles in her forearm. She’s had surgery and is now undergoing physical therapy to regain full use of her hand.
The 37-year-old is positive that Schlegel and the Nazareth Ambulance Corps saved her life.
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