CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A nasty fall that left a Corpus Christi woman with three broken bones Wednesday was not the way she wanted to lead her family into the Holiday Season.
"This isn’t what I had planned on for Thanksgiving or Christmas or to put my kids through,” Kimberly Dickens said. "But they were troopers.”
Some might call them heroes.
As Dickens and her two daughters were walking out of the front door of their home on the way to McDonalds for Happy Meals, she tripped on an extension cord for Christmas lights, briefly flew through the air, and slammed down hard on the concrete of her front walk.
Instead of panicking, seven year-old Violet and eight-year-old Lilly sprang into action.
"I mean you can tell they were scared, but they did what they’re supposed to do no questions asked,” Dickens said.
What they did was caught on video from their home’s security camera.
For Lilly, it was run across the street to find a neighbor for help — after taking the proper precautions.
“I looked both ways, crossed the street, and ran as fast as I could because I wanted my mom to not hurt as bad,” she said. "I didn’t want her to hurt at all.”
Violet stayed by her mother’s side whispering words of comfort and trying to help her call her husband Rusty and 911.
“I was saying, ‘Don’t be scared Mom. Don’t be scared. I’m here," she said. "And I was being brave.”
Doctors performed surgery on the two broken bones in Dickens's lower right arm and her broken right femur on Thanksgiving Day.
The healing process will last two to three months.
Despite the accident, she’s thankful her daughters did what they were taught when it comes to handling emergencies.
“I’m so proud of them,” Dickens said. "As a parent, you try and teach your kids and you have to let it happen from there. And they went directly into action."
