When 92-year-old Henry Kennedy fractured his skull, two bones in his arm and multiple toes after falling in his Oak Harbor home last month, fading in and out of consciousness for nearly four hours, he thought himself done for. But Blake King, a local UPS driver, stepped in and saved his life.
“I believe in angels from God and believe Blake was one of them,” Henry Kennedy said last week. “If he had not come that day, I would have died.”
Around 10 a.m. on Oct. 16, Henry Kennedy tripped on a rug and fell walking to retrieve his Life Alert, rendering him unable to do more than yell for help in the hopes a passerby would hear. The passing of his wife almost a year ago left him living alone aside from his Chihuahua, Chevy.
Lying prone on the floor, Henry Kennedy said he felt a “big knot” on his head and began losing what would become a significant amount of blood.
“Doctors were like, ‘He probably wouldn’t have lasted until the next morning,’” his daughter, Dawn Kennedy, said.
Luckily, King, ahead of schedule on his deliveries, arrived at Henry Kennedy’s house around 1:30 p.m., an hour earlier than normal. Chevy barked at King’s presence, stirring Henry Kennedy awake long enough to shout for help. King heard his cries and rushed to help, listening to Henry Kennedy’s instructions on how to locate a hidden key he could use to enter the home and call emergency services.
“I was able to stay calm for the most part, and for how severe (Henry’s) situation was, he seemed even more calm than me,” King recalled.
King found a list of emergency phone numbers inside and called Dawn Kennedy and her sister to inform the women what happened; he even put the phone on the floor next to Henry’s mouth so he could speak to them. King stuck with Henry Kennedy even after the paramedics arrived and even went as far as to wrap Chevy in a blanket and place him in a quiet room to calm down.
Dawn Kennedy is grateful for King’s selflessness and thoughtfulness.
“I wouldn’t have known otherwise,” she said. “If Blake didn’t even call me, my dad would’ve been up at the hospital and I wouldn’t even know he fell.”
Paramedics transferred Henry Kennedy to Island Health Hospital in Anacortes, then he spent a week-and-a-half at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle. Now he is being cared for at Bellevue Post Acute Care, and his recovery could take anywhere from six to 12 weeks.
“It will be a long haul,” Henry Kennedy said.
He is still in a lot of pain — and unable to walk — but alive, all thanks to King.
In a letter to various UPS executives, Dawn Kennedy detailed King’s life-saving efforts and the care he demonstrated checking in with the Kennedys in the days after Henry’s fall, with the hopes he is recognized for his “attentiveness, courage and humanity.”
“In a world where genuine care and kindness often feel rare, Blake reminds us that there are still extraordinary people out there — people who go above and beyond simply because it’s who they are,” she wrote.
King spoke humbly of his actions to the News-Times.
“I’m glad I was there at the right place and right time. I would like to think I did what anyone in my shoes would have done,” he said. “I’m grateful to (Henry’s) family for the warm thanks that I’ve received from them.”
