AEDC firefighters push injured girl in 5K race

  • Published
  • By Shawn Jacobs
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  Arnold Engineering Development Center Assistant Fire Chief George DeShields and Firefighter Anthony Jimcoily finished the Nov. 5 Snyder Foundation's Cops and Kids 5K Run/Walk in Smyrna with a time of 34:50, a respectable time for many runners.

The time was particularly satisfying for DeShields and Jimcoily, however, because they were pushing Victoria Atwell, the stepdaughter of fellow Firefighter/Crew Chief Dwane Kimmel, in her wheelchair.

In December 2009, Victoria sustained life-threatening injuries in a car accident that also claimed the life of her dear friend, Brenda Golden. After weeks in the hospital, Victoria went home on March 2, 2010 to continue recovering from her traumatic brain injury.

"George DeShields has taken an interest and has befriended her and she just idolizes him," said Kimmel, who lives in Normandy with Victoria and his wife, Kerry. "He comes to the house. He helps with her therapy. He's gotten in the pool with her at therapy. She's more comfortable with him than she is with other people, so he takes [time] out of his day to help her out."

Jimcoily said DeShields came up with the idea of the 5K as a way of providing some enjoyable activity for Victoria.

"He thought running with her would be something good and I was on board," Jimcoily said. "If she gets out and sees that she's still able to do things, that will motivate her to progress with the various therapy sessions that she has and just constantly improve day to day."

Kimmel praised DeShields and Jimcoily for their interest and dedication to Victoria.

"Anthony works on my shift," he said. "I would love to have a whole shift full of Anthonys. He is the kind of guy who every fire chief wants to have and George is a super assistant chief."

Kimmel said Victoria, who will be 20 in December, has made remarkable progress and continues to improve.

"She has her mental capacity," Kimmel said. "Her short-term memory is completely back. Her long-term memory - there's about two years of her life that she's missing still - but slowly there are little bits and pieces that are coming back.

"We have every indication that she will walk. She probably won't walk normally, but we certainly hope that she'll walk. She's not paralyzed anywhere; it's just a brain injury."

He attributes much of Victoria's progress to his wife, who quit her job after the accident to devote her time to her daughter.

"We don't leave her at home," Kimmel said. "We bought a wheelchair accessible van, and when we go places, she goes with us. We take her everywhere we go, so she gets exposure and she gets to be out."

Kimmel said Victoria enjoyed the 5K so much, she's hoping to do more of the events.

"She had a blast," Kimmel said. "We have a neighbor who is an events coordinator. She has said that she's going to work on getting Victoria a sponsorship and get her a sports chair to use for these 5Ks."