By Valerie Kalfrin
TAMPA, Fla. — With a brace around her right leg and a cast on her left arm, Tampa police Officer Tara Edwards hoisted herself out of a wheelchair Thursday to hug two men she called “gentleman angels.”
It was the first time Edwards had seen motorists Archie Thomas and Douglas Rand since May 5, when police said they pulled her from a burning patrol car after a head-on collision with an intoxicated driver.
“Maybe it’s because I’m sitting down -- they look huge!” she said afterward, causing them to laugh.
Remembering the crash, she trembled and wiped away tears. “They are a true blessing,” she said. “I’m just thankful to God that I’m here today to tell you all about it.”
The City Council and Police Chief Stephen Hogue awarded the men commendations for bravery. Thomas inspired more laughter from Edwards and Hogue when he remarked that he hadn’t at first noticed the car was on fire.
Both men said their greatest reward was seeing Edwards on the mend. “Thank you, dear,” Rand said to her. “I had no choice. I wasn’t going to pass you by.”
“If you hadn’t stayed calm, I probably would’ve panicked myself,” Thomas added. “You’re strong.”
About 6:30 a.m. on May 5, Marti Sue Ottley struck Edwards’ patrol car on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, police said. Thomas, traveling with his wife, Angela Cook, that morning, and Rand each said they had seen the woman’s Jeep Cherokee weaving around a city bus and other vehicles before crossing the center line and crashing into the patrol car.
Police charged Ottley with DUI with serious bodily injury, reckless driving and driving with a suspended or revoked license.
Edwards, 47, said she had been driving to work that morning. “I was excited I was going to get to work a few minutes early,” said Edwards, who joined the police department in 1990. “I was coming from another address.”
She remembered the collision; other images were spotty. “I remember putting my arm to the door and trying to get out.” Then she realized, “I can’t get out. I can’t get this door open,” she said.
As smoke spewed from the patrol car, Rand and Thomas hesitated to move Edwards, not wanting to worsen her injuries, they said. But she insisted.
“You kept saying, ‘Baby, get me outta here. I can’t move,’” Thomas said.
Rand pried open the car’s mangled door while Thomas unbuckled the officer’s seat belt and carried her to the curb. Cook, a registered nurse, helped administer first aid.
“I don’t feel like a hero,” Thomas said. “I just feel like somebody who was in the right place at the right time.”
Copyright 2008 The Tampa Tribune