Heroic Rescue by Kaiser Permanente Santa Cruz Cty staffer

On his drive to work one recent morning south on Highway 17, Chris Amos, an orthopedic technician at Kaiser Permanente in Santa Cruz County, witnessed a head-on collision of a motorcycle and a car.

As the car began burning, Amos, without hesitation, pulled over and rushed to get the driver out. He is credited with saving her life, shaking her awake from shock, and swiftly removing her from under protective airbags as flames began lifting from the car. Other drivers attended to the motorcycle driver, who got up and sat on the side of the highway.

After providing witness accounts to police, Amos went to work, where the news of his dramatic rescue had reached workers. Amos thanked his co-workers for greetings of congratulations and pats on the back, but he shrugged and said, “I was the right person at the right place at the right time.”

As an orthopaedic technician at Kaiser Permanente, Chris Amos prepares splints and casts for injured members, skills that he didn’t use at the Highway 17 accident.

“The instinct to help just kind of kicked in,” he said.

His co-workers marveled at his first-hand account of the accident and his role in the dramatic rescue.

“I was right behind the woman’s car heading south on 17, just south of the Summit,” Amos said. “It’s a dangerous area where there’s no center divider. The motorcyclist was actually heading northbound, but he veered across the center line and hit the woman’s car head on.”

The motorcycle virtually exploded on impact, tossing the driver over the roof of the woman’s car. The motorcycle driver was able to get up and sat on the side of the highway.

“I pulled over and saw the woman’s car had started burning, but she wasn’t getting out,” said Amos, “so I got out of my car and ran over to the burning car. I pulled open the back door on the passenger side and tried to talk to the woman who was motionless behind the wheel. The car’s airbags covered her. I asked her if she was okay and she didn’t respond.”

Seeing the flames in the front of her car growing, Amos reached across the seat and jostled her shoulder. She seemed to snap awake.

“I kept on saying she had to get out of the car, but she wasn’t moving, so I got out and walked around to the front,” said Amos. “As the flames grew, I was able to pull open the front door, move the airbags out of the way and finally lead the woman gently from the car. She seemed like she was in shock.”

Amos led her to the side of the road, where she sat down and started crying. Another motorist stopped by and tried to comfort the woman. Chris decided to check on the motorcyclist.

“He was breathing and said he was in pain,” said Amos. At that point yet another motorist stopped by to check on the motorcyclist. “It was a woman who said she was a nurse, so I figured the motorcyclist was in good hands.”

News reports indicate the motorcyclist was rushed to a hospital in San Jose.

Chris stayed around the scene and gave statements to the Highway Patrol and the Fire Department, but as firefighters cared for the woman, Chris had to leave for work.

By the time he arrived at work, his colleagues, doctors and nurses, were already talking about his actions at the accident on Highway 17.

“When he arrived here after literally saving that woman’s life, Chris picked up and went right back to caring for our members,” said Brenda George, RN, the managing director of the KP Santa Cruz clinics.

What struck and impressed his colleagues even more was his focus on rescuing the driver from the burning car, without thinking about his own safety.

“We all hope that we can do the right thing in an emergency, but to be honest, we just don’t know until we’re tested,” said Dr. Joyce Orndorff, Assistant Physician-in-Charge of Kaiser Permanente in Santa Cruz County.

“He did the right thing, in an emergency situation, selflessly, without regard for his own safety,” Dr. Orndorff said. “We’re proud to work with him at Kaiser Permanente in Santa Cruz County.”