‘My goal is to get better,’ says Florence paramedic badly hurt in ambulance crash

FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – It has been nearly two months since the horrific accident that badly hurt Florence EMS worker Tessie Smith.

Smith says she’s not able to remember much from before and after the crash, but instead she is looking ahead.

“It can happen that quick and nobody is immune to it,” Smith mentioned.

On March 9^th, Smith and Joshua Craig were hit when a truck crashed into their ambulance on the Martin Luther King Bridge near McLeod Hospital in Florence.

The truck driver, Jody Lynn Heglar, 45, of Norwood, NC, was charged with driving under suspension and felony DUI.

Smith endured five operations over the course of 22 days and lost her right leg as a result of the crash.

“I have my good days and bad days, but for the most part they are good…and on those bad days they give me about five minutes and I’m done with the bad days,” she said.

“She has to as we tell her, suck it up.  Put on your big girl panties and move on.  It was devastating to all of to know that her life had forever changed,” said Sandy Weatherford, Smith’s mother.

Smith received an outpouring of support from the community, from a GoFundMe page to an escort home after her stint in the hospital and the hashtag motto that she now wears as a wrist band that reads “Tessie Strong.”

Now she’s turning her attention back to helping others again.

“I used 25 units of blood and that’s our goal every time we have a blood drive.  So in just a day or two I used a whole blood drive,” stated smith.

On Monday, she will help with a blood drive at the Howe Springs Fire Department.  It’s an event she’s been in charge of for the past 6 years.

News13 also asked smith her thoughts regarding the driver who hit the ambulance.

“I have been able to process it.  At this point right now, I couldn’t tell you his name.  I don’t know what he looks like.  That’s the last thing on my mind right now.  My goal is to get better,” said explained.

Smith says she’s thankful for the support of the community.

The blood drive will happen Monday May 9^th at the Howe Springs Fire Department in Florence.