Sedalia Recognizes Life Savers With Keys to the City

Two women were recognized as lifesavers Tuesday night at the start of the Sedalia City Council meeting.

Darci Curtis CIV USAF, 509 MDG, and Jada McMillan, SrA USAF, 509 MDG, were both presented a key to the city by Mayor Andrew Dawson for their prompt actions in early July.

While driving home from work at Whiteman Air Force Base along Highway Y near Sedalia, SrA McMillan was following Curtis when they witnessed a dangerous situation unfold between two cars that were ahead of them. One vehicle attempted to pass another, and the driver being passed sped up and began swerving to block the maneuver.

To avoid being hit by the erratic driver, a woman in one of the cars swerved, overcorrected, and crashed nose-first into a ditch and embankment. The reckless driver, reportedly driving a blue Cube, sped away without stopping.

Curtis and SrA McMillan immediately pulled over to help. They found the driver injured, with airbags deployed.

Drawing on their training, they knew not to move someone with possible injuries — until the situation suddenly became life-threatening.

Without hesitation, they both worked together to pull the woman from the driver’s seat to safety, throwing a towel over face just as the car became engulfed in flames.

As they waited for paramedics, Curtis and SrA McMillan contacted the victim’s mother and grandmother, who later shared that she had been released from the hospital and was recovering.

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The victim had seatbelt marks on her neck and abdomen. She also had several broken vertebrae, but no injury to the spinal cord. She also had massive facial bruising, and burns to both hands and bruises to her feet. Also, seat belt marks to her neck, face and stomach.

Curtis, who lives near La Monte, was coming home to work that day when the incident happened. Here’s what she saw:

“There was a car going about 40-45 mph. She tried to pass in a safe passing zone. The car moved into the left lane that she was trying to pass, which then caused her to go into the grass. She could not get out of the ditch and that point, she hit a culvert, hit head-on to a telephone pole, went airborne back onto my side of the road. Before I even stopped my car, I called 911. She says don’t move her. Wait ‘til they get here. And then Jada came behind me 30 seconds later,” Curtis recalled.

She told dispatch “I’m getting out, the car’s on fire.”

Curtis added that she was in her own bad wreck 20 years ago and someone stopped to help her.  “So of course I would do the same” Curtis said of her decision to exit her car and help the victim trapped in a vehicle on the side of the road.

Curtis noted that she has not seen or talked with ShiAnn Bedwell since the accident, but hopes to see her again soon.

“Yeah a lot of people did drive by, but I knew I just had to stop,” Curtis said of her split-second decision to help another human being in need.

“I believe she was wearing her seat belt and the air bag deployed, and I think that saved her life -- and us, of course, while the car was on fire,” Curtis concluded.

In her account of the accident, McMillan said she was on her way home from work and had just reached down to change the song that was playing on her radio.

“I don’t see what starts the accident. But I just see the car nose diving into a ditch. I almost didn’t believe it. And the car in front of me immediately stopped, (the driver) got out and started running. I was like ‘Oh, that’s Darci, I work with her!’” McMillian recalled.

“I recognized her, see, so I started running after her, too. Darci was already on the phone when we got there,” McMillan said. She added that “With my training, I was told when someone’s in an accident, you’re not supposed to move them. They could be paralyzed. You don’t know what kind of injuries they may have.”

“So I’m just asking her basic questions -- things like what hurts? What’s going on? Can you feel this? And then smoke starts coming from the hood. And I was like, “Hmmm yeah it’s gonna catch fire, let’s get her out. And then within minutes, like the whole thing was in flames,” McMillian told the media in the lobby after the presentation.

“The car accident, just looking at it, didn’t look that bad. So I didn’t expect that to happen at all,” McMillan said of the sudden burst of fire from the engine.

McMillan said she feels like what she did that day is something that anybody would do if they witnessed the crash.

According to Mayor Dawson, the “Key to the City” is one of the highest honors a municipality can bestow. It traces its roots back to medieval times, when walled cities had gates that could be locked. Presenting a key was a sign of great trust, symbolizing that the recipient was always welcome and held in the highest regard.

“Though this plaque does not open any physical doors, it represents an open invitation into the heart of the city and the deep gratitude of its people. Today, the tradition lives on as a ceremonial way to recognize extraordinary acts, remarkable service, or significant contributions to the community,” the Mayor said. “Their actions are a shining example of the courage and compassion that make our community strong.”