By Gari Voss
Friday, February 4, 2022 began as normal for the mother-daughter crossing guard team at L.E. White Middle School. A vehicle had just sped along Tiger Path almost hitting Guard Karen Willey. Guard Carolyn Gilson told her daughter to get the license plate number then turned back to continue crossing students.
Gilson turned back from maneuvering students, cars and buses. As she looked over to question a student why he was trudging through the snow instead of staying on the path, she noticed that Karen was collapsed on the snow.
What happened next, Gilson can only explain as a miracle with the right people in the right place at the right time. Gilson found that Willey was not breathing.
Hunter Miling, a high school student had stopped his car and got out to help. Adam Ruiz, a young man who Gilson had crossed for the last 5 years, came over. Gilson saw Tina Johnson, a registered nurse, dropping off her students. The boys were sent to get Johnson who came and immediately looked for a pulse.
In the meanwhile, middle school teacher Betsy Finch ran to get middle school principal Erin Hafer who called for assistant principal Chris Reeve. Hafer asked Finch to grab the AED.
When Hafer and Reeve arrived at the scene, they began sharing compressions.
Allegan City Officer Josh Morgan and Allegan County Deputy Ryan Rewa arrived on the scene along with Derek Pullen from the Fire Department. Under watchful eyes, the AED was deployed and CPR continued until Life EMS arrived to transport Willey to Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo.
Finch remained at the scene and allowed others to use her cell phone to assure family members and friends that the social media stories were not correct and everyone was doing well.
As people were responding to Willey, Gilson had other concerns to address. First, Willey’s 11 year old son Luke and 3 year old granddaughter Avery were in the car waiting for Willey to finish her morning duties. When Gilson went to calm the children, she was amazed.
“Luke was calmly talking to Avery assuring her that grandma was going to be okay,” Gilson shared. “I was so proud of him.”
Gilson then had to sort out the traffic that had piled up while she was away from her post. With the assistance of teachers Bob Sikkema and Tony Danzig, the backlog of vehicles was alleviated, students were crossed, and buses moved so Life EMS could get their ambulance to the scene.
“I knew Karen would be alright when she started to yell. They were inserting an IV, and she hates needles,” Gilson quipped.
Gilson reported that Willey is doing well. She was to be transported from Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids on Monday, January 7th so a defibrillator could be implanted in order to reduce future medical emergencies.
Allegan Public School Superintendent James Antoine had the highest praise for the staff and students who responded to this medical emergency. “They were amazing as were the city and county public response officers. Gilson has worked with APS for years and takes her job extremely seriously. I am happy that everything is going well.”
Gilson reiterated, “I want everyone to know how much I appreciate everything they did on Friday. It is not enough to say thank you. There are no words to describe my gratitude. At the same time, I want people to have the facts about the medical emergency on Friday morning. No one was hit by a car; no student was placed in danger. There were just many people responding professionally to a situation that turned out well because of their actions. They were amazing.”
