Good Samaritan rescues Good Samaritan

By WAYNE QUESENBERRY/Staff

One of Wednesday morning’s most serious weather-related accidents involved a Good Samaritan who fell more than 50 feet down an embankment beside an Interstate 81 bridge in Wythe County.
Heather Arnold of Bland, a registered nurse at Pulaski Community Hospital, sustained a concussion and broken pelvis from the tumble.
Her life-saving rescue from a remote spot on a rural road beneath the bridge is attributed to another Good Samaritan. Sgt. Doug Hudson of the Wythe County Sheriff’s Office and Susan Sult, who found Arnold, related the story.
Arnold was headed to work before daylight Wednesday morning as snow began to fall. Northbound on I-81, she saw a wreck ahead near the 83 mile marker at the double bridges over Reed Creek between the Fort Chiswell and Graham’s Forge exits.
After crossing the bridge, Arnold pulled her Nissan Maxima off the highway and headed back toward the wreck. She was walking in the dark behind the guardrail when she plunged down the slope.
Dazed from the fall, Arnold did use her cellular phone to call 911. She was unable to tell the police dispatcher where she was and her call couldn’t be traced because it wasn’t a land line.
Around 7 a.m., Susan Sult, who lives on Formato Drive, a rural road under the bridge and off East Lee Highway near Carter Memorial Wayside, was leaving home for work. Approaching the first set of interstate bridge columns, she noticed someone lying beside the road.
“She waved her glove,” Sult recalled Thursday evening. “I went a few feet past her before I stopped. It was a little shocking.”
According to Sult, Arnold told her she had called her husband and the police. The woman, Sult said, was very confused.
“I called my husband and told him to call the police from our home phone,” Sult stated. “He called the sheriff’s office and brought some blankets to put over Heather.”
The Sults waited with Arnold. Before long, Hudson arrived.
“Deputy Hudson knew the road,” Susan Sult added. “He helped the Lead Mines Rescue Squad get to where we were. They did a good job.”
“I’d say she had at least a 50-foot drop,” Hudson stated.
Arnold was transported to Wythe County Community Hospital and transferred later to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., according to a WCCH spokesman.
Linda Shepherd, director of the intensive care unit/critical care unit at Pulaski Community Hospital where Arnold is employed, reported Arnold underwent surgery Friday for the broken pelvis. She listed her condition as serious.
“I can’t say enough good things about Heather,” Shepherd commented Friday morning. “She’s an excellent nurse – very, very bright, caring and willing to help people. That’s what got her into trouble but I’m sure she has no regrets about stopping to help.”
According to Shepherd, Arnold has worked in the ICU/CCU department at Pulaski Community Hospital since April. Before that, she was employed at Lewis-Gale Medical Center in Salem.
Shepherd noted her department became concerned when Arnold didn’t arrive Wednesday at the start of her 6:45 a.m. shift. One of the staff members, she said, called Arnold on her cellular phone and learned Arnold had fallen and was disoriented.
“She was always on time,” Shepherd said. “Heather called me Thursday from Wake Forest and told me about the surgery.”
Arnold and her husband, Chris Arnold, have two small children.
The early morning snow was credited with numerous wrecks on I-81 and secondary roads throughout Wythe County. Sgt. M.T. Conroy of the Virginia State Police reported 33 wrecks with seven injuries occurred in the county Wednesday morning and King said his office responded to 11 additional crashes.
“A lot of the accidents just involved vehicles sliding off the road,” King commented. “We always have a lot of accidents on our first snowstorm.”
Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 228-6611 or .