[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 105 (Monday, July 29, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1430]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1430]]
          RECOGNIZING HALIE JACOBS FOR HER BRAVERY AND HEROISM

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                           HON. VAN HILLEARY

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 26, 2002

  Mr. HILLEARY. Mr. Speaker, I pay tribute today to a brave little girl 
who lives in Normandy, Tennessee, a small town in the congressional 
district I represent. Halie Jacobs is only seven years-old. Yet, when 
her mother's life was in danger, Halie braved darkness, angry dogs and 
a broken foot to walk two miles to get help for her injured mother.
  On July 10th, around midnight, Halie and her mother Crystal were on 
their way home, driving through fog and misting rain down the kind of 
narrow, twisting country road that is so common in rural Tennessee. 
Their car hydroplaned into a ditch, leaving Halie's mother severely 
hurt and Halie with a cracked bone in her foot. Halie stayed by her 
mother's side until, according to Halie, ``I couldn't talk to her.''
  Not knowing for sure if her mother was living or dead, Halie did 
something uncommonly brave for a seven year-old. In spite of her own 
injury, she set out on a pitch-black, lonely road toward home and help 
for her mother.
  Halie found her way home, got help and showed them the way to her 
mother.
  I am happy to report Crystal is regaining her health. She still has a 
long way to go, but because of her daughter's heroism, Crystal is on 
her way to recovery.
  I know Crystal is proud of her extraordinary daughter. All of us in 
the Fourth Congressional District are. Bedford County, Halie's home 
county, awarded her its first ``911 Hero Award'' for making the right 
call.
  Though I haven't met Halie myself, the Tullahoma News, one of the 
local newspapers at the award ceremony noted Halie ``handled the 
attention and barrage of questions from television and newspaper 
reporters with quiet maturity.'' The article went on to state, ``It was 
the same maturity she exhibited two weeks ago when she walked barefoot 
more than two miles, in the middle of the night, to get help for her 
injured mother.''
  Mr. Speaker, being in a car accident, seeing your mother gravely 
injured and then watching her pass out would be highly traumatic for 
anyone, let alone a seven year-old. Yet Halie Jacobs kept her wits and 
did what she knew she had to do. I commend Halie for her uncommon 
courage and I wish her mother Crystal well as she recovers from her 
injuries.
  For the record, I include an account of Halie's heroism that appeared 
in Bedford County's newspaper, the Shelbyville Times Gazette.

  A brave little girl: Halie Jacobs, 7, defies dark, dogs to help Mom

                            (By Ann Bullard)

       Imagine riding down a narrow, dark country road in the mist 
     and fog when the car runs off the road and noses down into a 
     ditch. You're the passenger in the front seat; the driver has 
     fallen to your side and is bleeding heavily. You have no 
     flashlight, no cell phone. You talk with the driver, your 
     mama, until she can't talk with you any longer.
       And you're only 7 years old.
       That was the situation Halie Jacobs faced last Wednesday 
     night, as she and her mother, Crystal, were driving on 
     Rowesville Road to their Normandy home. It was close to 
     midnight, and, like most persons of any age, Halie was 
     afraid. Unlike many, Halie took matters into her hands.
       ``I stayed with Mama until I couldn't talk to her. [Then] I 
     jumped into the back seat, opened the door and got out,'' the 
     petite second-grader said, explaining if she'd tried to exit 
     on her side she'd have been in the creek.
       Not knowing whether her mother was dead or alive, Halie 
     started home. In spite of a sprained ankle and bare feet, the 
     youngster ran and walked 2.1 miles from the accident to her 
     grandparents' home. She turned the wrong way initially, 
     walking about .3 miles to Highway 41-A, then reversed her 
     path, ran past the car with her mother inside down Normandy 
     Road to Dement Road and the family trailer.
       The youngster passed only one house. The light was on but 
     she didn't know the people and was afraid to stop. As she ran 
     down the middle of unlighted, tree-shrouded roads, she was 
     chased by two dogs. ``Then I walked so they wouldn't come 
     after me,'' she said. And, finally, she reached home.
       ``I was on the phone with her dad when Halie came in 
     covered with blood,'' her grandmother, Teressia Jacobs, said. 
     ``She told me, `Me and Mama had a wreck at the end of the 
     road. I talked to her until she could talk no more.'''
       Only after reaching home, having family's arms around her 
     and knowing they were getting help for her mama did Halie 
     cry. Teressia called 911 and then drove to the scene, taking 
     a reluctant Halie with her to be sure she found the car.
       ``I didn't want to look in case it was too bad,'' Halie 
     said, tearing up when she remembered her fear that her mother 
     had been killed.
       At a little more than 50 pounds and about 3 feet 9 inches 
     tall, the blond-haired, blue-eyed rising second-grader at 
     Cascade School seems an unlikely candidate to be a hero. The 
     angel pin she now wears expresses her mother's emotions.
       When EMS workers arrived, they found Crystal on the 
     passenger side of her 1995 Nissan Sentra in which both air 
     bags had deployed. Neither Crystal nor Halie, who was beside 
     her in the front seat, were wearing seat belts.
       ``It was rainy and foggy and I think I hydroplaned,'' 
     Crystal said. According to State Trooper Rhett Campbell, the 
     newest officer serving this district, the car had gone off 
     the road, down alongside Shipman's Creek and came to rest on 
     top of a pile of dirt.
       How did Crystal get across the console? ``I don't know. I 
     knew Halie was in the car and suppose I tried to protect her. 
     When I regained consciousness, I was on the passenger side.''
       ``God and Granny were with her that night,'' Teressia said 
     of the child's other grandmother who had died this spring.
       Crystal was taken by ambulance to Bedford County Medical 
     Center. It was too foggy for LifeFlight so the ambulance took 
     her on to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville 
     where she was treated. She was discharged until the facial 
     swelling was reduced, then was admitted to Vanderbilt this 
     morning for reconstruction of both sinus cavities and her 
     cheek.
       As for Halie, she is pretty matter-of-fact about it all. 
     She is looking forward to entering Cascade School in the 
     fall, and spends her vacation swimming, watching Rug Rats and 
     Sponge Ball cartoons and playing on the computer.
       To adults around her, the 7-year-old is a hero. Cathy 
     Mathis, head of the Bedford County Communications Center and 
     E-911, plans to present Halie with a ``911 Hero Award'' 
     within the next few days.

     

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