OCALA, FL (352today.com) – Lynn Ernest never imagined a dinner stop in Ocala would turn her life upside down.
She and her husband Don, married for over 30 years, were on a routine trucking route from Buffalo, New York, headed to Georgia with a stop to pick up a load of sugar in Ocala.
The couple, who live together in a tractor-trailer cab for Don’s job as a truck driver, decided to take a break and grab dinner before continuing the haul.
“We had been working all day, and Don asked if I’d like to stop for dinner,” said Ernest.
The couple stopped at a BBQ place on State Road 200 and parked their car at a Race Trac gas station on the other side of the road. Ernest described the crossing as a “five-way intersection” with 8–10 lanes of traffic. After about 30 minutes inside, they exited the restaurant and began walking back to their truck.
As they crossed the street, Ernest remembers hearing “screaming, yelling, and laughing” behind her.
“I was like, what’s going on? I thought somebody was hurt or injured,” she said.
Ernest paused, looking around to see if someone needed help. That’s when a 19-year-old driver ran the red light and swerved, narrowly missing her.
Then came the sound she’ll never forget.
“I thought he hit the curb or a telephone pole,” she recalled. But when she turned around, she saw Don flying 10 feet into the air, flipping and cartwheeling before crashing to the pavement. His shoes had been knocked off, and he was bleeding from his nose and ears.
“I could see his skull and arm bones. One of his legs was ripped open.”
In a panic, Ernest realized her phone was still in their truck. She screamed for someone to call 911.
She says the wait for an ambulance felt like forever, though it was likely only 7–8 minutes. When help arrived, EMTs stabilized Don and rushed him to HCA Florida Ocala Hospital as a trauma alert.
Ernest couldn’t ride with him. “They call it riding hot because he needed so much assistance, and they didn’t know if he would make it,” she said. “I thought he was going to make it from the street to the hospital… he was in rough shape.”
Stranded in a city she didn’t know, Ernest had no way to get to the hospital—until a 28-year-old woman, driving by with her mother-in-law and several children, stopped and asked if she needed help.
“Oh my god, yes please,” said Ernest.
The family took her to the hospital and stayed with her for “hours and hours.”
Surrounded by strangers, Ernest waited, scared and disoriented, clinging to the hope that her husband would survive.
Part 2 of this story will detail Don’s recovery and the community’s role in their journey.