‘It really is divine intervention.’ At an east-side corner, strangers became angels

Miracles can happen anytime, anywhere.

Including at 7:45 a.m. on a Thursday on the way to the dentist.

That was Carmen Priesz last week, a retired insurance adjuster from Sioux Falls.

His wife, Jane, a retired first grade teacher from Mark Twain Elementary, went with him. Even though she didn’t have an appointment. Even though when they left the house neither of them knew the role she was about to play in the near-disaster that lay ahead.

Carmen had barely spoken the words “I don’t feel well” when he passed out. While driving. Nearly on top of his wife.

Jane “somehow kept the car under control,” said their daughter, Stephanie Krenik.

“The car went up on the sidewalk and behind the gas station at the corner, and she veered it between two trees.”

It landed on Southeastern Avenue, just past Marson Drive, and shut off.

“She just got out and yelled, ‘I need help,’ ” Krenik said.

And, immediately, it came.

First, there was Angela Herrboldt. She has been working from home for months in her federal government policy role.

“I was just out for a run, probably a mile from home, just getting done, and I was on Southeastern and heard a loud pop and a big bang,” she said. “It was the tire popping.”

As she saw Jane get out of the car, “I knew something was wrong, so I ran a little faster at that point,” Herrboldt said.

By the time she got there, drivers who had been behind the Prieszes had stopped.

“I already had my phone out dialing 911 and saw several gentlemen pulling her husband out of the car. I could tell he wasn’t conscious,” Herrboldt said.

And while any well-meaning drivers would have been welcome extra hands, these happened to be exactly the right ones.

One of the drivers who stopped was a 911 dispatcher.

One was an occupational therapist.

Another was an emergency room physician assistant.

“All these health professionals end up in exactly the right place at the right time and start CPR and chest compressions,” Krenik said. “It really is divine intervention. My dad could have been alone.”

So could her mom.

Instead, Herrboldt called Krenik, stayed with Jane, and assured her of all she’d done right.

“There’s a giant tree there. And a gas station and brick building. And she maneuvered like she’d been doing this every day of her life. She can’t remember any of this, but it was so expertly navigated,” Herrboldt said.

“There were a lot of good things that happened. There were four or five men and two women helping with CPR. Everyone just flew into action.”

With a fire station just minutes away, more help arrived fast.

But as Carmen left the scene, the medical professionals who had stopped to assist knew enough to know it might not have been enough.

“Everybody was really grim. Nobody thought it was going to turn out well,” Krenik said.

Everybody was wrong.

“We were at the ER and didn’t know what was going on, and a policeman came in and said he opened his eyes,” Krenik said.

“He’s talking and moving his arms and legs.”

While still in the hospital, Carmen Priesz is now “stable and his normal self and teasing the nurses,” his daughter said.

“And my mom and brother and I kept saying I wish I could find all these amazing good Samaritans and let them know he’s OK. Because the prognosis did not seem great.”

But luckily, a great story still spreads fast on social media. Within 20 minutes of Krenik posting her story and search on Facebook, four of the helpers had been located.

City Council member Rick Kiley is a neighbor and contacted police to see if they could help find the rest. “And they put an officer on it to help me find them. So on Friday, he kept calling me with phone numbers, and it was just amazing,” Krenik said.

She and her parents started reaching out over the weekend.

“My dad got to speak to a couple of them, and we do plan to meet everybody when he’s out of the hospital and doing better so he can hug them,” Krenik said.

Hearing from the family “was wonderful. They’re just such lovely people,” Herrboldt said. “You can tell they are just the gold standard of family. You can tell they love and support each other, and they were just gracious and thankful, and it humbled me how they appreciated the little bit I did. I think I did anything anyone else would have done.”

From the sounds of it, Carmen and Jane Priesz would have been ones to stop and help too.

“My parents are awesome. They’ve always been super helpful to everybody else, so it was a full-circle moment,” Krenik said.

“With how crazy the world is right now, it’s great Sioux Falls is a community where people pulled together. There are just awesome people in this community. All the people we have met have been super helpful and amazing, and none want recognition. They were just there at the right time and glad to help. They knew exactly what to do, and it saved his life.”