Photo By Staff Sgt. Joshua Hastings | Melissa Johnson, right, hugs U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Jada McMillan, 509th...... read more read more
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WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. -- “They got her out of there while it was on fire and took her to a place of safety. If they hadn’t done that, my worst fear would have come true.”
The chilling words of Melissa Johnson echoed throughout Sedalia City Hall. Community leaders and residents of the central Missouri city listened in awe as a mother, full of emotion and gratitude, recounted the heroic actions of two healthcare professionals from Whiteman AFB who saved her daughter’s life.
During the late afternoon on July 9, Mrs. Darci Curtis and Senior Airman Jada McMillan left work to go home around the same time on a seemingly normal day. Both assigned to the 509th Medical Group, Curtis provides prescription services in the base pharmacy and McMillan serves as a medical technician. Having worked together on a handful of previous occasions, the familiarity between the two of them would prove to be serendipitous with what they would soon encounter.
In front of Curtis, on a narrow two-way back road near the base, were two vehicles in conflict with one another. Twenty-three-year-old ShiAnn Bedwell, the driver directly in front of Curtis, was attempting to pass the driver ahead. Instead of allowing Bedwell to pass, the lead driver blocked her vehicle and drove her off the left side of the road. Bedwell’s sedan was unable to correct and drifted into a ditch. She hit a culvert and then slammed head-on into a telephone pole. The collision sent her vehicle airborne, landing on the right side of the road. The other driver fled the scene.
“I was shocked,” Curtis said. “It is still very vivid in my mind. It brought back memories of an accident I was previously in.”
When Curtis was in high school, she had experienced a traumatic accident while riding passenger in her friend’s car. It was late in the evening, and the sky was dark. Her friend sped too quickly around a corner, and the two of them ended up hitting multiple trees and into a ditch. Unaware that the accident caused a gas leak, they were fortunate that a bystander found them and contacted emergency services. Nearly twenty years later, Curtis had the opportunity to be the hero in a similar circumstance.
Witnessing the accident mere yards away, Curtis immediately called 911 and pulled over. She moved hastily toward the wrecked vehicle while explaining to the police dispatcher what had occurred.
“Before I opened the door, I could hear her scream, ‘Get me out of here,’” Curtis said. “She was very disoriented and very much in pain.”
The dispatcher instructed Curtis not to remove the distressed and possibly injured driver until paramedics arrived. A few moments later, a familiar face arrived on scene.
McMillan was in the middle of changing a song on her radio when she looked up and saw the accident occur. Startled by what had the appearance of a movie action sequence, she questioned if she had seen what just transpired.
“That was my first time taking that road home,” McMillan said. “They were doing construction at the main gate that day, and my GPS took me through back roads. There were a lot of cows and grass around.”
McMillan recognized Curtis immediately as she drove closer.
“I parked my car, put my hazards on and ran over there,” McMillan said. “All the air bags were deployed, but it did not look like the car took a lot of damage.”
The medical technician, who had only been stationed at Whiteman AFB for a few months, began to ask Bedwell a variety of questions about her current condition while trying to keep her calm. That was interrupted when smoke began to billow from the engine.
“It started smoking and then the flames came,” Curtis said.
She could hear the “pops” and “cracks” of small explosions from the car.
A sense of urgency overcame the healthcare professionals as they knew they needed to get Bedwell to safety, and their training kicked in.
“Darci [Curtis] held the airbags back while I pulled her out,” McMillan said.
Bedwell had difficulty walking, so McMillan had to support her.
“I had to use our carrying maneuvers to get her further away from the car,” she said.
Shortly after Curtis and McMillan relocated Bedwell to a safe distance away, the vehicle was engulfed in flames. While waiting for paramedics to arrive, McMillan called Bedwell’s mother.
McMillan informed Melissa Johnson of her daughter’s accident and reassured her that everything was going to be all right. Johnson sighed with relief and McMillan said she would remain on the phone until the paramedics arrived and would give them Johnson’s contact information.
Curtis attributed her ability to assist in a calm manner to McMillan’s demeanor, which was reflective of her experience and training as a medical technician. She added that she felt like McMillan knew what she was doing throughout the rescue and that “she was there for a reason.”
An ambulance came and took Bedwell to the hospital while smoke filled the air above her charred vehicle.
After a full day’s work in the medical clinic and a heart-pounding rescue, Curtis and McMillan finally went home.
“I was very shaken up while driving home,” Curtis said. “I drove extra careful. I was still in shock when I got home, and I told my family what happened. It was a reminder to not take things for granted.”
Curtis and McMillan both said that they do not view their actions through the lens of being heroes but acknowledge that they did what they felt was right in that moment. It was coincidence that brought them together that day, with both having worked together on various occasions and able to respond to the accident in synchronicity. Had either of them took a different path home or left work at a different time, the result may have been different.
On Sept. 2, Andrew Dawson, Mayor of the City of Sedalia, awarded the key to the city to Curtis and McMillan, symbolizing their contributions to the community during a city counsel meeting. Prior to the key presentation, Johnson provided a testimony to those in attendance about how her daughter’s life was saved.
“If it had not been for two girls that were strong, my daughter could be dead, my daughter could be terribly maimed and all of our lives be changed forever,” Johnson said. “They dealt with the fire, they dealt with the hot asphalt, [and] they dealt with probably a screaming maniac. They got her to safety, and they kept her safe.”
At the conclusion of the testimony, Johnson, Curtis and McMillan exchanged hugs and flowers, an unfeigned moment where words were not needed. The healthcare professionals from Whiteman AFB did not do what they did for recognition or favor, but because they both share a commonality of caring for others and a desire to do what is right – anytime, anywhere.
| Date Taken: | 09.17.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 09.17.2025 15:31 |
| Story ID: | 548453 |
| Location: | WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, MISSOURI, US |
| Web Views: | 24 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Whiteman AFB healthcare professionals honored for life-saving rescue, by SSgt Joshua Hastings, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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