Miracle on Main Street
From left, Jessa Baker, Anne Martin-Giblin and Tammy Paskvan-Bowles share a laugh after meeting Sunday for the first time since Baker and Paskvan-Bowles helped save Martin-Giblin after she went into cardiac arrest in her car on Dec. 3. Paskvan-Bowles and her husband, Mark Bowles, pulled Martin-Giblin out of her car and Baker performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation until paramedics arrived. They were meeting to honor Baker in Bigfork.
After learning she saved a woman’s life, Jessica “Jessa” Baker said she couldn’t wait to see her smile.
Her wish came true Sunday evening, when about 30 people gathered to honor Baker and others who helped rescue Anne Martin-Giblin.
The afternoon of Dec. 3, Martin-Giblin, a 36-year-old mother of three, went into cardiac arrest while stopped at the intersection of Main and Idaho streets in Kalispell.
Of all the motorists near the busy intersection, only a few stopped to help.
Shana Beccari called 911. Mark Bowles and his wife, Tammy Paskvan-Bowles, helped pull Martin-Giblin from her car. And Baker administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation until paramedics arrived.
On Dec. 21, Baker received a Life Saving Award from the Kalispell Fire Department at a ceremony at City Hall.
Today, Martin-Giblin is alive and well.
Baker said she had “huge butterflies” and was almost sick with anticipation when she learned she would finally get a chance to meet Martin-Giblin. “She seems like a completely different person,” said Baker, calling the reunion “awesome.”
The women hugged when they met.
Martin-Giblin said it was nice to finally meet Baker after hearing so many good things about her.
“We’re very thankful to all those who came to her rescue,” said Martin-Giblin’s mother, Loree Martin, who, with her husband, Tom, tracked down the rescuers and invited them to hors d’oeuvres at their Bigfork home.
Martin-Giblin said she doesn’t remember the incident.
But her 9-year-old son Gage Giblin was in the car when it happened. After tickling and shaking his mother, the boy said he knew she wasn’t just asleep.
So did Bowles.
“The way the car was rolling through the intersection, I knew something was wrong,” he said. He ran to the car and put its brake on, got Martin-Giblin out and checked her vital signs.
Beccari focused on keeping Martin-Giblin calm.
Baker said she heard someone scream, “she’s not breathing!” and ran over.
“We have to get her out of the car now,” Baker said she told Bowles and Paskvan-Bowles. Baker grabbed Martin-Giblin around the midsection and the three of them pulled Martin-Giblin from the truck.
“Help me remember,” Baker said she silently prayed, kneeling by the woman’s limp body on the road.
She tilted the woman’s head and breathed into her mouth.
“I saw the breath go in her, saw her lungs fill up and everything clicked,” she said.
The former certified nursing assistant said she felt like she did CPR forever. “I remember being exhausted, but I was not giving up,” she said.
Kalispell Fire Department arrived on the scene and an ambulance transported Martin-Giblin to Kalispell Regional Medical Center.
Baker said she is honored but had a hard time accepting the Life Saving Award. “All this heroism is hard to swallow,” she said, “the glory belongs to God. He had a hand in this.”
According to the American Heart Association, an estimated 95 percent of cardiac arrest victims die before reaching the hospital.
Reporter Melissa Weaver may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at mweaver@dailyinterlake.com