Hillside nurse, dog rescuer needs help

HOWLAND

One of the defining themes of Howland woman Tamie Chicko’s life has been helping others – as a registered nurse at Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital and as a dog rescuer.

But an unforeseen calamity struck her last October as she traveled home on U.S. Route 422 near Templeton Road in Warren Township: a traffic crash left her with numerous debilitating injuries, including a crushed hip socket and broken bones in her pelvis and ribs. Her recovery was estimated at six months.

A Leavittsburg woman had crossed the highway from Templeton without stopping for cross-traffic, striking a car that then crossed the median and struck Chicko’s Chevy Malibu. The Leavittsburg woman later was convicted in Warren Municipal Court of failure to yield the right of way, according to court records and an Ohio State Highway Patrol accident report.

Chicko’s mother was on the phone with Chicko and heard the crash, sending her mother into a panic as she called out over and over and got no response. Chicko was using her Malibu’s hands-free phone technology.

“I was gasping for air and was unconscious,” Chicko said of what her mother could hear.

Julie Day, a friend through dog rescue, started a gofundme page for her, setting a goal of $5,000.

“Many of you know Tamie Chicko as a dog-pound volunteer with a huge heart. She has fostered, walked and helped pound dogs from the Trumbull County Dog Pound as well as dogs in the community,” Day wrote on the gofundme page on the Internet.

Read more about her and how you can help in Tuesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.