Honorees

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Year Honored
1997
Honoree
Laura L Halsey
Agency
Stroh Volunteer Fire Dept
Agency City
Stroh
Agency State
IN
Last Call
12/21/96
Cause of Death
Ambulance Involved MVC
Biography
A one-car accident early Saturday morning on December 21, 1996 set off a string of tragic events resulting in 6 deaths, including a stillborn infant. It began as LaGrange County emergency medical service personnel were dispatched to assist Jeffrey Hill, whose car had hit a tree. Twenty-five-year-old EMT volunteer Laura Halsey drove the Stroh Volunteer Fire Department ambulance to respond to the call. The patient was stabilized and placed on the LaGrange County EMS ambulance for hospital transport.<br /> <br /> Laura Halsey had the lights flashing and siren going as she traveled west on U.S. 20 when the ambulance she was driving was hit by a 17 year old teenager whose eastbound vehicle crossed over the centerline and hit the ambulance head-on. Laura Halsey was instantly killed, as was the teenage driver. It was 4:25 in the morning, a few days before Christmas.<br /> <br /> Paramedic Bryan Allred, who was attending the patient, died within 30 minutes of the accident from massive head injuries. Natalie Kocher, another Stroh EMT volunteer, 22 and pregnant, was injured and taken to the hospital where her son was stillborn the next morning. The patient, Mr. Hill, received additional injuries from the car-ambulance collision and later died, as did Mr. Hill's brother, David, who in attempting to get to his injured brother's side was involved in a fatal car crash.<br /> <br /> At the time of her death, Laura was the EMS Director at Stroh Volunteer Fire Department in charge of all the day-to-day operations of the service. She had been a devoted Advanced Emergency Technician for over four years, leaving a LaGrange County paid staff position and assuming the "full-time" role of volunteer to accommodate her newly-wed status. She had been married for one year.<br /> <br /> Honored 1997