By Si-Hyung Kim
I am writing this to thank the kind people of Blaine County.
My family and I are from South Korea. We came to Idaho Falls, where I am working for a year, last October.
Unfortunately, we were in a car accident at the intersection of Highways 20 and 75 several weeks ago. After the accident, I could not open the car door but some citizens helped us. We sat down by the highway, my wife hugged our daughter and I held our son. A lot of very kind people began to gather.
A man checked our condition. My daughter vomited twice and had pain in her back and neck. So, he took some measures to help her, and the rest of my family.
He then arranged for an ambulance to take us to the hospital. He knew my family is poor at English, so he asked the rescue people to take us to one room in a hospital. This was a very good decision. I thought he was a doctor accidentally passing by. Regretfully, I did not thank him when we left in the ambulance.
The accident was about 6:30 p.m. so the sunshine was still strong. A man and woman held a blanket to block the sunshine from us for a long time. That was a very helpful measure. I told them not to hold the blanket any longer but they kept saying, “It’s OK.” They also gave us comforting words.
The ambulance workers checked my family’s condition and served us well, especially my two children. They gave dolls to our children.
We arrived at St. Luke’s Hospital – we did not even know what city we were in. Doctors and nurses took very good care of my family. I was told my family had no severe problems but that we should stay near the hospital that night and watch one family member for symptoms of possible complications.
The kind people who held the blanket came to the hospital to check our condition and invited our family to stay the night with them.
I gladly welcomed that because I had no acquaintances nearby. They talked and waited with us at least three hours before taking us to their home at 1 a.m.
When we arrived at their home, their two dogs, Sugar and Spicy, welcomed us. My daughter liked them. The two people arranged a room and served us hot tea. The next morning, I found my condition was still not good and they took considerable time to make arrangements to get my family home to Idaho Falls the next day.
The two kind people are Dick and Joanne Wetherell, who are the owners of RE/MAX of Sun Valley.
I asked Joanne the name of the man who had helped us and she told me the man was the mayor of Ketchum, Randy Hall. My wife and I were so surprised! Also, with the kind help of car insurance agent (Progressive, John Hendrix), I smoothly handled most of the matters related to this accident.
I want to thank all who helped us through this article.
I know United States helped our country so many times when we had difficulties in the past and the two countries have maintained very good relations up to now. I believe most Koreans, including me, still appreciate your country’s help. In this accident, my family and I personally received hospitality and help from many kind Americans. I will not forget them in our life.
Once again, thanks to all the many people I met from this accident.
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Si-Hyung Kim, who lives in South Korea, is working at the Idaho National Laboratory for a year. He was involved in a recent accident at the intersection of Highways 75 and 20. Jo Murray assisted him in editing this article, as English is not his native language.
