Driving home from a quilting event in Bigfork in September of last year, Carol Martin remembered that the sky was clear, the sun was shining, and she had a headache.  

As she headed south on the highway, her blood pressure dropped. Unconsciousness followed.  

When she came to, she and her Cadillac Escalade were smashed into a boulder. She had broken both legs, four ribs, crushed her right foot and ankle, and suffered a neck injury. Her left femur had gone through her hip.  

And she was completely alone. Until three high schoolers from Bigfork arrived. 

“He held my hand the entire time,” she remembered of one of the boys, who were unknown to her at the time. “That saved me.” 

A little more than a year after the accident, Carol still struggles with pain. There are more surgeries on the horizon. But one positive memory of that day endures, one she recalls daily: The three young men that comforted her as they waited on paramedics. They saved her life, she said.  

The boys, who Carol and her husband, Charlie, later learned the names of, were a trio of friends just driving by: Landen Lanier, James Raymond and Rand Shanks.  

The teens saw someone stop at the crash before them and call 911, but that individual then departed.  

“I knew I had to help,” Shanks recalled. “I couldn’t just leave her there.” 

When they arrived, the trio attempted to get to Carol but couldn’t open the driver’s side door. One of them jumped in the passenger side in the meantime, grabbing Carol’s hand. Another found her cell phone on the ground and immediately called Charlie and the authorities. Then they waited with her. 

They stayed as calm as they could, Shanks said, but he remembered feeling like he might pass out because of the blood. There was so much blood.  

None of them had been in a situation like that before, he said.  

But they stayed as Charlie and the first responders arrived. And they stood by Charlie’s side while emergency medical personnel loaded Carol onto an ambulance and whisked her away. 

"When I got there, these guys, they shook my hand, they looked me in the eye. I don’t have much faith in the youth in recent years, but it was beautiful,” Charlie said. 

Later, Charlie decided to learn the names of the teens. Carol was equally determined to honor them. Talking to retired teachers and Bigfork community members, they finally learned the boys’ identities. 

Over the past few months, Carol, a talented seamstress, began working on a series of large quilts, one for each of the boys. She made up her own patterns and chose fabrics that were cool toned and fun. It’s a way to say thank you, she said, but nothing can truly express how thankful she is.  

“I don’t think they realize what an impact it had,” she said. “I believe that they saved me. I was dying. I was resuscitated twice in the ambulance. It wasn’t fun, it was scary, and being scared my blood pumped harder and flowed faster. I could feel it slow down when he held my hand. I calmed down.” 

The quilts are stitched with a thank you note.  

“Thank you for being my hero on 9-21-24. I will never forget!!!!!,” they read.  

Shanks picked up his quilt earlier this month, he said, and he could tell Carol put care into each one. He was always hoping he would cross path with the woman he helped one afternoon in September last year.   

These days, Carol and Charlie look forward to permanently fixing Carol's right foot and left hip, the lasting injuries from the crash. They are celebrating their 51st wedding anniversary in January and spend their days in their Wood’s Bay home alongside their two macaws, Charlie and Charlice.  

Every day they have together is because of those three young men, Carol said. For her, it underscores the importance of being a good neighbor.  

“Be that person,” Shanks said.  

Reporter Kate Heston may be reached at 758-4459 or [email protected].