DINWIDDIE, VA (WWBT) – A local marine and Vietnam veteran is paying it forward today to the woman him and his family call a miracle worker. Tommy Staples says a stranger provided life saving treatment that kept him from bleeding to death after a bone crushing accident in Dinwiddie County. The entire family is offering thanks for her heroic Act of Kindness.
After more than a month in intensive care, Tommy Staples is eager to greet the stranger who became his lifesaver.
TOMMY: "Hey, haven't seen you in a longtime."
BETH: "I know!"
TOMMY: "Thank you, Thank you."
Staples and home health care nurse Beth Barfields have forged an unbreakable bond since an unthinkable accident in July, at his landscaping business in the middle of Dinwiddie County.
"I think it was a miracle. I think that Beth was my guardian angel," said Tommy.
Staples was on his tractor, pulling a bush hog, doing his regular grass cutting, near the side of the road the routine turned disastrous.
"It hit a culvert, it threw me up in the air, and the tire pulled me down under the tractor. The bush hog got my arm and the tractor run over my leg and broke it 15 places," he said. "I thought I was gone. I could see the tire rolling over me, crushed all my ribs on 1 side, but I was looking up under the tractor."
At that moment the home health care nurse was rushing to a last minute assignment.
"I wasn't even supposed to work that day. Honestly, I think it was divine intervention," said Beth.
When Beth saw a tractor by the road she slowed down, then suddenly stopped when she saw a man on the ground bleeding.
"And I slammed on the brakes, left both my kids in the car and did what I had to do," Beth said. "All that went through my mind was keeping him conscious, try to keep him as comfortable as possible, don't move him, and make sure I stop the blood flow. All I had was my dog leash. I just tied it as tight as I could."
"I could hear him hollering and screaming and the nurse, she had just gotten there, and she was hollering for me to call 911," said Tommy's wife Carol Staples.
Tommy was medflighted to MCV in grave condition.
"They had to resuscitate and bring him back to life cause of the amount of blood loss. When they landed on the building, he didn't have a pulse," explained Steven Jones, Tommy's Son-In-Law.
"When we got to the hospital they said they were going to have to take the arm because there was nothing left," said daughter Lisa Jones.
But Tommy says he has everything he needs, his wife, his kids and granddaughter Sydney and they're all grateful to Nurse Beth.
"He wouldn't be here today. It was just a miracle she stopped and she come along when she did," Carol added.
The family arranged an Act of Kindness show of appreciation at Beth's job, with Sydney doing the honors.
CAROL: "Go ahead honey."
SYDNEY: "Alright, mommy you help me count it."
LISA: "Ok. That's…"
LISA AND SYDNEY: "$100, $200, $300."
BETH: "Aw. Thank you Sidney."
SYDNEY: "Thank you for saving my Papa Staples life."
And Nurse Beth had one final assessment.
SABRINA: "How does he look?"
BETH: "He looks excellent."
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