‘ANGEL OF MERCY’

Helping people is what Erin Brose knew best.

And that’s why it came as no surprise to anyone when she pulled over to help two injured women who crashed their vehicles on a foggy morning in late December near West Concord.

As Brose came upon the wreckage, she dialed 911 before getting out of her own car to help the drivers whose vehicles were reportedly on fire, according to Nan Wandrey, Brose’s mother who lives in Owatonna.

“God had her there for a reason to help those girls,” said Wandrey. “It was her job to get them out. She saved their lives.”

Brose succeeded in getting the women out of their vehicles. But then the unthinkable happened and things took an even greater turn for the worse.

Another vehicle came along and hit Brose and one of the drivers she had rescued. The driver died at the scene and Brose was critically injured. Brose was taken to a Rochester hospital where she later died.

“Just a terrible, terrible accident or part of God’s plan,” Wandrey said. “She was doing what she always did. We are care people.”

The family of the first woman killed later told Wandrey’s family that they thought of “Erin as an angel to their daughter,” and referred to Brose as an “angel of mercy,” Wandrey said.

Brose turned 46 years old on the day before the crash. She and her mother had planned to go out to lunch on Dec. 30, the day of the crash, to celebrate. But, instead, Wandrey ended up seeing her daughter in the intensive care unit in Rochester.

Wandrey, who has been a nurse her entire life, knew things were bad the minute she saw her daughter. “I knew she wouldn’t come out of it. I was a little hopeful she would make it through the night.”

During her final days while going through 13 surgeries, Brose never gained consciousness, but her eyes opened and moved a few times, Wandrey said. “Everyone of those surgeries broke my heart,” she added.

Though she was not able to communicate, the family kept talking to Brose in the hospital. Among them was her son Jack, who is a senior at Triton High School in Dodge Center. “He promised her that he would graduate,” Wandrey said. “He was a mom’s boy.”

Brose hung on for almost two weeks before the family made the difficult decision to pull her life support. “I just prayed, and God took her home so she wouldn’t suffer,” said Wandrey.

She said Brose suffered “anything you can imagine” after being hit by the truck with most of the damage on the left side of her body. “She was broken everywhere. She had unbelievable multiple injuries,” Wandrey said, adding “the only thing that wasn’t hurt was her heart.”

The family had hoped to donate Brose’s heart, but it had been too many days. They were able to donate her corneas and skin. The rest of her organs were too damaged.

On the day of the crash, Brose was headed to Medford to take care of a woman at her home. Later she would go to Owatonna to care for a retired pastor, who has provided her with Bible training during her care visits for several years, Wandrey said.

Brose’s husband, Andy, has now taken over for with the in-home care jobs, in addition to the home healthcare duties he has.

Asked where Brose picked up her caring side, Wandrey responded: “It came from having a mother who has been a nurse for 44 years. Many of our family members have been involved in healthcare. It’s in our nature. Taking care of people has a lot to do with our faith.”

Brose’s favorite Bible verse was Romans 12:13: “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need, practice hospitality.”

Fighting back tears of sadness and grief, Wandrey is still coming to grips with the death of her daughter. “She was a New Year’s baby and born on a Friday. Friday’s child is loving and giving, and that’s what she was,” Wandrey said while choking up. “She was a very good caring girl. That was just her. She was the care person. She didn’t want to be taken care of.”

For Wandrey, faith has played an integral role in this tragedy. “It’s the only thing that keeps me going. If we didn’t have that, it would be difficult and devastating, and we would be lost,” she said. “God brings us through faith to handle it and make sure we’re here to help others.”

Wandrey recognizes that the world is broken. “This world isn’t perfect, but we’re going to get to a perfect one,” she said. “She still lives forever no matter what. She is ok. She’s just not here.”

A Celebration of Life and benefit for Brose will take place Sunday from 12-4 p.m. at the Owatonna VFW. The benefit had been planned prior to Brose passing away as a way to assist the family with medical expenses. Now they have funeral expenses on top of everything else. The theme is “Stronger than the storm.”

Wandrey said her daughter’s family does not have medical or life insurance. “They did not have tons of money,” she said. “She did what she did because she liked to do it.”

And it’s reassuring for the family to know that Brose left this world doing what she loved while being a Good Samaritan and an “angel of mercy.”

____________________________________________________________

STRONGER THAN THE STORM

What: Benefit for Erin Brose

Where: Owatonna VFW

When: Sunday, March 2, 12-4 p.m.

Other: Celebration of Life at 1-1:45 p.m.

_____________________________________________________________