Crash victim meets Kansas City first responders who rescued him
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A crash on February 25, 2022, left Dakota Williams fighting for his life.
He suffered a brain injury, several broken bones, damage to his eyes, a lacerated liver, a punctured lung, severe internal bleeding and more.
After surviving and recovering from those injuries, he had the chance to meet the first responders who saved his life on Thursday.
He said he has a different outlook on life now.
“I just look at life a lot differently now, every day’s a blessing but I want to be the best dad, son, brother, partner I could possibly be. I definitely love the tiny moments more than I ever have,” he said.
Over the course of his recovery, he had 24 surgeries, 19 of which happened in the month following the crash. Of those 24, four of them were brain surgeries.
He told FOX4 that he was glad it was him in the crash, when his mother first heard that, she had some questions for him.
“What do you mean you’re glad?” his mother Bridgett asked. “And he said ‘I can survive this, it could have been a mom with small children, an elderly couple, somebody who couldn’t power through it.’”
Will Roberts and Jared Jarding are medics with the Kansas City Fire Department who responded to the crash.
Roberts tells FOX4 that he remembers how horrific the scene was when he arrived. Both say that seeing him up and walking means the world to them.
“We don’t often get to see the efforts that we put in, that’s not why we do the job, but to see something like this makes it all worth it. That’s why we do it, to help people in their worst moments and get them back with their families,” he said.
The doctors FOX4 spoke with said that the Williams family is one of the more tight-knit families that they see at the hospital.
Bridgett said they had no other choice but to stick together.
“We just did the best we could as a family and we just did our best to be there for the kids and to be there for him and now he can be here for all of us.”
“I’ve always believed in the man upstairs but it’s a whole different belief now. He wasn’t done with me,” Dakota said. “I’ll never take for granted again just time it’s been the fastest two years of my life but my kids are growing, my daughters 14 my son is 10 I know in the flash of an eye until they’re grown up and doing their own thing so I’m just trying to cherish every bit of that I can.”
The driver of the vehicle that hit Williams is set to appear in Clay County court next Friday.
