Hanover Park lauds fire lieutenant's response to crash

Kelly Gawlik was technically off-the-clock and on her way home.

But as a Hanover Park fire department lieutenant and paramedic, Gawlik sprang into work mode when she spotted a serious, two-vehicle wreck at Army Trail and County Farm roads. She didn't wait for backup, but crawled into a damaged car to help Joan Rickert on the afternoon of Sept. 2.

The accident left Rickert with fractured vertebra in places “most feared for EMS providers,” fire Chief Craig Haigh told village trustees last month.

“Depending on the severity of the fracture, a patient can end their life by simply turning their head following the crash,” Haigh said.

Despite the delicacy and danger of Rickert's injuries, Gawlik managed to stabilize her spine and save her life, Haigh said.

Months later, after surgery and physical therapy, Rickert, standing tall, was able to reunite with Gawlik before the village board and the rest of the responders to the crash.

And Rickert's daughter, in tears, gave Gawlik a bouquet of flowers and announced a donation in her honor to an Illinois Fire Safety Alliance camp for children with burn injuries.

Haigh called her a “public servant of the highest caliber.”