JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
A Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland service member is being called a Good Samaritan after helping to save the life of a mother who was trapped in her car after it rolled over into a ditch in late January.
Staff Sgt. Tina Spencer, 717th Military Intelligence Battalion platoon sergeant, was one of three people who came to the aid of Tiffany Kieschnick-Rivas, the driver who was critically injured in a rollover accident that occurred on the evening of Jan. 30 at Galm Road in northwest San Antonio.
Spencer was driving home with her 13-year-old daughter when she came upon the accident scene. She saw a car flipped over in a drainage ditch and noticed four people, two women and two teenage boys, who were standing near the accident scene.
At first, Spencer thought the four people near the scene were involved in the accident. But when she was told they were not, Spencer parked her truck, told her daughter to stay in the vehicle and went around a bridge down a cement embankment into the drainage ditch.
When she got to the wrecked vehicle, Spencer saw it was flipped over onto the passenger side with its windows broken and glass shattered everywhere. From the passenger side, she saw the head of Kieschnick-Rivas, who was unconscious, pinned between a cement barrier in the ditch and the passenger seat of the vehicle, with her face down in the water in the ditch, her body twisted and her legs twisted up towards the driver’s side.
Unable to help Kieschnick-Rivas from outside of the vehicle, Spencer decided to climb through the driver’s side window, which was shattered out.
Once she was in the car, Spencer moved Kieschnick-Rivas’ head out of the water and with the assistance of the two teenage boys, tried to pull the injured driver out of the wrecked vehicle.
“I moved her upper body as much as I could over on the passenger seat, where her face was out of the water,” Spencer said. “She was mangled, her body was twisted really badly. I was trying to lift her torso out and the teenage boys were trying to grab her legs, but she was really trapped in there. I just stayed down in there, trying to keep her so she wouldn’t move any more or go back into the water until paramedics came.”
When emergency responders arrived, they helped Spencer get out of the vehicle and used the Jaws of Life by cutting out the back window of the car to rescue Kieschnick-Rivas. She was airlifted in critical condition to University Hospital.
Spencer said paramedics at the scene told her that her actions helped to save Kieschnick-Rivas’ life.
“The paramedics said if she makes a recovery that I gave her a second chance of life because she would have drowned in that water,” Spencer said.
While she has been called a hero for her actions, Spencer said she is not. She said three things guided her during the time she was trying to rescue Kieschnick-Rivas: her faith in God, her Army training and experience and adrenaline.
“The adrenaline gives you the strength and the ability to act in this situation,” she said.
Spencer said it was through her Army training that she was able to stay calm, think clearly and know what to do in caring for Kieschnick-Rivas at the accident scene.
She said all the people who helped out at the accident scene, including two women, one of whom called 9-1-1, and the two teenage boys, played a role in saving Kieschnick-Rivas’ life.
When encountering an emergency situation in which someone’s life is at risk, Spencer said people shouldn’t be onlookers.
“Do what you can to assist, it could be a matter of life and death within minutes,” Spencer said. “Call 9-1-1, observe, and try to do something. Just don’t stand there.”
As a result of going into the wrecked vehicle, Spencer sustained minor injuries, including cuts and bruises on her arms, hands and legs from the glass that was shattered everywhere. She is recovering from those injuries and doing okay.
Spencer said the ordeal has become emotional and personal for her because she found out that her son and one of Kieschnick-Rivas’ sons are friends at the elementary school they attend. In addition, Kieschnick-Rivas’ eldest son attends the same middle school as Spencer’s 13-year-old daughter who was riding with Spencer when she came upon the accident scene.
Ten days after the accident, Spencer visited Kieschnick-Rivas at the hospital, along with one of the teenage boys, Tre Pena, who helped out at the accident scene.
Spencer described the hospital visit with Kieschnick-Rivas as an emotional experience.
“It was emotional because I played a major part in her being alive today,” Spencer said. “I honestly thought she was deceased when I climbed into that car.”
Kieschnick-Rivas is now at home and in the process of recovering from the serious injuries she sustained during the accident.
Also, both the Spencer and Kieschnick-Rivas’ families have become close as a result of the accident. During one weekend, Spencer had both of Kieschnick-Rivas’ sons at her home as the children from both families participated in activities together.
“From this tragic event, it has turned into a lifetime friendship between families,” Spencer said.
The 717th MIB is part of the 470th Military Intelligence Brigade headquartered at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston.