11-year-old crash victim thanks dispatcher

Jordan Johnson, 11, cried and screamed to 911 emergency dispatcher Cathryn Miller when her parents suffered serious injuries in a crash May 4.

Her mother, Debbie, asked Jordan to call 911. Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office dispatcher Miller comforted the distraught girl while obtaining details. She stayed on the phone with Jordan until after deputies and paramedics arrived at the Old Nashville Highway crash. Her mother and father, James, survived.

Jordan remembered Miller’s concern and surprised her personally Friday with an over-sized thank you card and a stuffed panda bear, her favorite animal, Friday at the sheriff’s office. She beamed as she read her hand-written messages on the card to Miller.

“I was the little girl who was screaming and crying saying that we had a wreck and my parents were hurt bad,” Jordan said. “You were there asking me where we were and calming me down and … you stayed there until someone else was with me, even after the ambulances got there. We are all fine.”

Tears streamed down Miller’s face as Jordan expressed her thanks.

“I just can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done,” said an emotional Miller, adding she and her co-workers appreciate Jordan’s sentiments.

Miller told Jordan she was her “eyes and ears” at the crash because the girl gave a description of where the wreck happened so Miller could dispatch help.

Debbie Johnson said she didn’t realize until that moment how her daughter had to give information about their location. She thanked Miller for keeping her daughter safe.

Miller showed Jordan how GPS and phone technology helped locate the crash with the information the girl gave her.

One message from Jordan especially touched Miller. The message read, “The deputy said there wasn’t supposed to be any survivors but there were. There was an angel with us.”

She hugged the family and again wished the parents a full recovery, noting dispatchers seldom know the results of the emergencies they handle. She invited Jordan to call her anytime.

“How brave you are,” Miller told Jordan.” It was so important you gave me information. You’re my friend for life now.”