Patrol honors 16-year-old who was smart enough to survive crash
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LISBON -- Last year, 487 Ohioans died in car accidents because they weren't wearing their seat belts, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Lauren Satterfield made sure she didn't become the 488th when she buckled up on Dec. 16 and walked away from what the OSHP says would have been a fatal accident if she wasn't wearing her safety belt.
The 16-year-old resident of Center Township became a member of the Saved by the Belt Club on Tuesday afternoon when she was presented with a certificate by Lt. Leslie D. Brode, commander of the OSHP post in Lisbon, and Sgt. Adam Shonk. Satterfield was nominated by Shonk, the investigating officer and the first one on the scene of the accident.
Saved by the Belt is a statewide program run by the OSHP that has been active for the last 18 years. Members of the club are car accident survivors who saved their own lives by wearing their seat belts. The ceremony took place at the Columbiana County Career and Technical Center. Satterfield is currently a junior at CCCTC where she's studying cosmetology.
Satterfield is the most recent inductee of the club. She was driving on Lisbon-Dungannon Road in Center Township on Dec. 16 when she lost control of her vehicle due to the snow and went off the road, striking an embankment. Her vehicle overturned twice before landing upside down on an electric fence. Based on the extensive damage to the vehicle, the fact that Satterfield only sustained minor injuries was a shocking but welcome discovery to Shonk when he pulled up to the scene of the accident.
"I was getting nervous that we were going to have a very, very bad situation," Shonk said.
Satterfield said that she was in disbelief when the accident first happened and didn't realize it was really happening until it was over. To her, the award reminds her of how happy she is to still be here.
"I'm really happy that I'm here to get it and that other people can see that it's very important to wear a seat belt and take precautions like that," she said.
The over-arching theme of the ceremony and Satterfield's testimony is simple -- wear your seat belt.
"Always wear a seat belt. I don't care who's telling you that it doesn't matter or it's not helpful, it is," Satterfield said.
Shonk emphasized that the wearing a seat belt can be the one thing separating someone from a fatal accident.
"I see someone wearing their safety belt and we see the results. This is a 16-year-old that we don't have to tell the loved ones of that she's not coming home. She saved her own life and made Mom and Dad very proud. The car was replaceable, but their little baby girl was not," he said.