'There For A Reason': Manhattan Woman Rescued By Village Trustees

MANHATTAN, IL — Imagine this: A previous night's winter storm dumped ice and snow everywhere. Paved surfaces are slick with the stuff, and a new storm is about to bring even more.

You've just got back home from a doctor appointment, but you left the paperwork from the visit in your car. So, you go back out to get it. On the way, you slip and fall. You've broken one of your femur bones — you know, the big bone in your leg. You can't get up. There's no one around to help. There you are, calling out for help, as time keeps ticking along. Your mind races with terrifying questions: "How long will I be here? How will I get out of this? What am I going to do?"

This isn't some kind of thought experiment about what to do in an emergency. This happened to Manhattan resident Margaret Dunlop.

Dunlop was stuck for nearly an hour, immobilized with a broken femur as hypothermia set in. She tried to call out to several people, but she was difficult to see lying on the ground in between buildings and vehicles, and her calls for help went unheard. And that might've been the end of Dunlop's story. That is, until two Village of Manhattan Trustees came along.

In the middle of the afternoon on Feb. 1, before nearly a foot of snow fell across Manhattan, Trustees Bob Dilling and David Beemsterboer happened to be in the area of the 100 block of North Street where Dunlop fell.

Dilling said he thought he spotted someone nearby laying on the ground. It was, of course, Dunlop. Dilling started walking toward her and heard her ask, "Sir, can you help me?"

"I'm like, 'Oh my God, there is somebody there,'" Dilling said. "So, I ran up to her and I could see that her right leg was bent in a manner that I knew it was broken."

Dilling had good reason to believe his quick assessment was correct. He is a former firefighter, EMT and police officer. This was not the first time he'd seen someone in Dunlop's position.

"I'm a little bit trained in it," Dilling said.

Dilling told Dunlop to stay where she was so that her injury wasn't made worse. Dilling dialed 9-1-1 and called Beemsterboer over to stay with Dunlop so Dilling could flag down the emergency crew from Manhattan Fire Protection District, who were quickly on their way.

"It was scary. If Bob wasn't there, I don't know how long she would've been there," Beemsterboer said.

Beemsterboer wanted to make Dunlop more comfortable, but didn't want to risk further injuring her. He asked Dunlop if there was anything he could do for her, and she asked him to go get her purse and cell phone so she could call relatives to let them know what happened. She was also concerned about her dog, Tazz, a miniature Dobermann pinscher and Chihuahua mix.

Beemsterboer asked Dunlop if she was in pain, and she told him she couldn't feel anything from her hip down.

"I stayed with her just trying to keep her calm," Beemsterboer said. "I wanted to put my coat on her legs because they were exposed, but I was afraid to even touch her because I didn't want to hurt her or do anything wrong."

The MFPD arrived and they took it from there. Dunlop was treated and is now recuperating with the help of her son and daughter-in-law.

"I'm on the mend," Dunlop said.

That she is, much to the relief of her family and Tazz.

“I truly want to thank those two gentlemen, and I really, truly appreciate what they did for me," Dunlop said.

Dunlop, Dilling and Beemsterboer had never met before that day. But Dilling said he thinks there was a reason why their paths crossed that snowy afternoon.

"It's scary to think, we got 10 inches of snow that was just starting about a half hour after they took her away. She would've been buried in that snow," Dilling said. "And I'm not saying this to pat myself on the back or pat Dave on the back, it's just that — you know, I'm not a very religious person, but we were there for a reason."