LIBERTY, Mo. — A 4-year-old girl got to meet her hero: a KC police officer who comforted her after a horrible crash that injured her mother.
A few weeks ago, Kansas City Police say a the driver of a Buick was speeding and driving erratically near Interstate 35 and North Brighton. The driver crossed the northbound lanes, went into the median and broke the barrier cables, hitting two cars along the way. The driver and passenger of the Buick died.
Abbiey Kauer and her daughter Chloe were in one of the other cars and said they’re lucky to be alive.
“I’m blessed to have made it to another birthday,” Kauer said.
Thursday was Kauer’s birthday. Her daughter Chloe turned 5 years old on Monday.
The Buick hit them, almost head-on while Kauer was on the way back from work as a pizza delivery driver.
“Waking up in the hospital, I didn’t know I was in a wreck,” Kauer said. “I didn’t know what happened.”
Kauer doesn’t remember the crash at all, only the aftermath.
“I was worried about where she was,” Kauer said about her daughter Chloe.
Kauer broke her nose in the crash and has two broken wrists. Chloe is back to her normal, energetic self despite injuries of a broken rib and clavicle and an injured liver.
Chloe remembers the KCPD officer who comforted her, Officer Shaun Davis.
MoDOT workers got Chloe out of the car, and Davis brought her to a bathroom. He comforted her, and other officers helped her into an ambulance. Those who helped gave her this stuffed bear, which Chloe named Angel.
“That’s all she would talk about,” Kauer said. “And in a scene so tragic, that was her role model. Her idol.”
Davis went to the family’s home in Liberty when they asked to meet with him.
“He saved my life,” Chloe said.
Kauer is forever thankful for the first responders and police officers who helped her daughter during one of the scariest moments of their lives.
“That’s a time that a mother should be there for her daughter,” Kauer said. “And I wasn’t able to. I wasn’t conscious. I didn’t know what happened. So for others to step in and comfort her and play that part just for that time, it meant a lot to me.”
The mother and daughter have doctors appointments coming up to learn what the next steps are for their health. In the meantime, they’re looking forward to Chloe’s birthday party this weekend. It’s going to have a SpongeBob SquarePants theme.