Crash changed Sugar Grove firefighter's life

Lt. Steve Wilkens of the Sugar Grove Fire Protection District could say the reports of his injuries had been greatly exaggerated.

Still, he knows he is lucky to be alive after suffering leg and knee trauma last winter while tending to a woman whose car had spun onto the median on I-88 near Sugar Grove. He was standing outside of her vehicle and was struck by another car.

"There were all kinds of reports on the Internet; there is a Web site devoted to firefighters," said Wilkens while on duty Saturday at the fire station. "There were varying reports of my injuries. And some said I had been killed."

Wilkens suffered tears to the tendons and ligaments in his left knee in an accident he calls "bizarre."

Here is his account of what happened:

Wilkens and other firefighters and paramedics were called to the scene Feb. 14 after a pickup truck rolled over in icy and snowy conditions.

By the time they arrived, a woman had slid her sport utility vehicle onto the median nearby, in an incident unrelated to the overturned truck.

A 19-year-old woman who was trying to drive past the accident scene in the one lane that was still open lost control of her 2003 Honda and struck Wilkens as he stood outside the SUV taking the blood pressure of the woman inside. The woman's husband had arrived at the scene and also was struck.

Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt.

"It was a matter of going too fast for conditions," said Deputy Chief David Adler, who was on the scene and witnessed the accident. "But we were blessed that day. There was snow between Steve and the vehicle and it saved his life."

"I don't remember much," Wilkens said. "I remember seeing the car coming. Then I was unconscious for a few minutes. When I woke up I said I was OK. My left leg was pulled up inside the wheel well of the car and twisted."

Wilkens, 37, was treated at Provena Mercy Medical Center in Aurora and released the same day.

"I was X-rayed, CT scanned, and MRI'd," he joked. After a month of physical therapy, he returned to light duty, then full duty in May.

"Everyone was very supportive when I was off work," he said. "People offered to go to the grocery store for us. I got calls everyday from the chiefs here and from other departments. I even got calls from out of state."

Wilkens' colleagues had a singing balloon delivered to him the day of the crash.

"The song was 'You're Still the One,'" he recalled.

Wilkens said the support he received is typical of the camaraderie of firefighters.

"We're connected in a special way," he said. "We protect the community and we protect each other. Even if you dislike someone, you would still risk your life, or sacrifice your life for that person if you had to."

Wilkens and his wife, Christine, live in DeKalb but plan to move to Sugar Grove when their home sells.

He has been a firefighter for 13 years and a paramedic for 15 years. He joined the Sugar Grove department in June 2006 as part of the first group hired when the department became full time.

He was promoted to lieutenant in November.

"I'm not going to go through another crash to get another promotion," he joked.

"I'm proud of what I do and I'm proud of the people I work with," he added. "I wouldn't trade it for anything."