Iowa man reunites with good Samaritans who saved his life
By Kayla James
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NEWTON, Iowa (KCCI) — Noah Kimmel was driving to his parents’ home in Newton on Oct. 15 when his life was changed in a blink of an eye.
The 24-year-old paramedic, who is also in the Army Reserve, doesn’t remember much about that morning as he was traveling just outside of Newton. He recalls getting off work in Knoxville and going home to Pleasantville to work out. After that, he was traveling to his parents’ house.
“I remember driving and then I just remember waking up at Mercy in the patient care unit,” Kimmel said. “That was quite a few days after the accident.”
It was some time after waking up that Kimmel would learn he had crashed into a tractor pulling farm equipment and that he only survived because of three men who were nearby when it happened.
“As I come around the corner, I saw the tractor and there was a pretty good dust cloud,” said Scott Anderson, who is a Chariton firefighter who also works for Hy-Vee as a driver. “When the dust settled, I saw the car with a bunch of debris and I just pulled over and tried to help as best I could.”
Anderson recalls quickly getting out of the truck and running to the driver’s side of Kimmel’s vehicle. He says Kimmel was unresponsive at first when he arrived.
“I just put my hand on his chest and set him back in his seat and that’s when he breathed,” Anderson said. “When he took a deep breath, that’s when I kind of went ‘OK, we can do this.'”
While Anderson was working to help Kimmel, Mitchell Vanzee jumped off of the tractor and called farmer Curt Voss for help. Voss quickly arrived with a first aid kid, that happened to have a neck brace that Anderson needed.
“He opened my airway and put on the neck brace and kept me calm,” Kimmel said.
On Saturday, all four men met face-to-face for the first time since that October morning. They met at the New Virginia Legion Hall in Warren County.
Prior to the accident, Kimmel’s friends and family planned to meet there on Dec. 3 for a going away party. Kimmel was expected to deploy with his unit in Cedar Rapids.
However, following the crash things have changed.
Kimmel says he suffered from 16 broken bones and several brain bleeds. His family never left his side for the 23 days he was in the hospital.
Kimmel is out now and on a road to recovery.
“My arm doesn’t fully work so I have to go to Mayo Clinic hopefully to see about nerve repair,” Kimmel said.
On Saturday, Kimmel and his family were able to thank Anderson, Voss, and Vanzee for what he refers to as them saving his life.
He also learned more about what happened that day.
“Somebody asked me what we needed and I said we needed an ambulance and helicopter now,” Anderson said.
“Yeah, I remember you yelling that back at me,” Vanzee said with a laugh.
Nearly two months later, the group can now laugh because Kimmel is alive.
It’s something Kimmel’s mother, Janet, says she can’t thank the men enough for saving her son’s life.
“All of y’all were at the right place at the right time,” Kimmel’s mother said. “I can’t thank none of y’all enough.”
Kimmel is currently out of work as he continues to recover. His family has created a GoFundMe for anyone who wishes to help out with medical costs.
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