Jeff Wilson (JW) and Tammie Baird (TB)
JW: I saw something fly over the hood of my car and then I saw you lying there. And I pulled over and, you know, got out and you were unconscious. I was absolutely sure that I had killed you. And then for a few days after that I really did not want to live. I just felt like dirt. But I called to find out how you were, and I remember speaking with your dad. And he could have just been irate and angry and I was prepared for that because I felt that’s what I deserved. But I told him how sorry I was and he said, ’I know what you’re going through because I went through that same thing.’ When he was about my age, he’d hit a child that had run into the street after a ball and got really hurt. He said that he forgave me, and I’m forever grateful for that.
TB: I’m glad that that day he answered the phone because he was just so kind, and he didn’t hold grudges. I’m surprised honestly he didn’t make you come over for dinner.
JW: Now. I didn’t know you when I hit you.
TB: Right and then after the accident you were avoiding me in the hallways.
JW: If I saw you I’d be like, Oh God that’s the person I hit. I don’t want to deal with this.
TB: So did you think it was crazy when 20-something years later, out of the blue I just send you this email?
JW: Yeah. I opened it up and the first thing you said is, ’You may have been the first person to hit me with your car but you weren’t the last.’
TB: Yeah. [Laughs] I became a stunt woman, and now what I’m known for in my industry is car hits. I just really felt like I had to let you know that. [Laughs]
JW: I’m so glad you did.
TB: You know people will say things like ’Wow, you do car hits. How did you get so good at it?’ I’m like, oh well this guy hit me my freshman year walking to school.
JW: The fact that you made something good out of it? It just amazes me. It really does and it’s just kind of this beautiful symmetry because I’m a surgical technician, and I do a lot of orthopedic surgery. So I see people come in from car accidents. And it gives me a great deal of satisfaction feeling like I’m helping people. I’m putting people back together.
TB: That’s awesome.
JW: But I’m, you know, forever sorry.
TB: But I hope now you won’t be.
JW: It’s spectacular to be able to make this connection after so many years. It really blows me away.