Kirkland Woman Hurt In I-405 Crash Wants To Thank Samaritans Who Helped

KIRKLAND, WA — It seemed like just another quick drive home along the always-busy I-405.

On Saturday night around 6 p.m., Genevieve Buckmiller, 38, was driving home after having dinner with her brother. The car radio was off because her 4-year-old son was sleeping in the backseat. She was focusing on the highway and thinking about how she'd have to carry her son from the car to bed once she got home. There was just one more exit to go before home.

Then out of nowhere, Buckmiller felt something hit her car hard. Her Subaru Outback veered out of control, first spinning, then rolling. When it stopped, she was upside-down and yelling for her son.

"He just said, 'I'm upside down, I don't want to fall, I'm scared,' but I couldn't see him," she recalled, although the memory of the accident is till blurry.

According to Washington State Patrol, a driver had swerved into Buckmiller's lane, hitting her car, causing it to go out of control. The offending driver never stopped, and state police are actively looking for the vehicle — described only as a dark-colored sedan.

As quickly as the accident happened, people started appearing to help. A man pushed the side-curtain airbags aside and pulled her out of the vehicle. The man identified himself as a ski patrolman, and he started checking her head and neck for injuries. Another man pulled her son out of his car seat and brought him to his mother. Other people brought blankets. A woman used the flashlight on her cell phone to check Buckmiller's eyes, presumably for concussion.

Now, Buckmiller wants to find those people — up to 10 stopped to help, she guessed — and thank them. Not to mention, she wants to return the blankets they donated to keep her and her son warm.

"It they didn't stop, we would've been in more danger. The risk of secondary impact is super high," she said.

She said that she owes it to those Samaritans — and her Subaru, and especially her Diono Radian RXT car seat with its five-point harness — for preventing a terrifying accident from becoming a tragic one.

"They made a huge difference," she said of the Samaritans.

Her son was virtually uninjured, although Buckmiller was taken to Overlake Hospital for a few injuries — a sprained ankle and wrist, cuts and a bruise on her face.

If you're one of the people who stopped to help on Buckmiller and her son on Saturday, she wants to get in touch and says that anyone involved can reach her through Facebook. Another way to help is to contact police if you witnessed the accident.

Trooper Rick Johnson told Patch on Tuesday that police do not have a description of the vehicle yet, and they're asking the public to send tips so they can catch the hit-and-run driver.

"I'm hoping maybe someone behind me saw it," she said. "A lot of me is hopeful they find the person responsible."

Images courtesy Genevieve Buckmiller