LONGMONT — Near the end of her 10-hour shift Wednesday afternoon, Longmont emergency dispatcher Beth Kemper picked up a call that she says was the most shocking of her 15-year career.
On the other end of her line was Michelle Wilkins, who lay in the basement of a strange home, bleeding from a stomach wound where investigators say Dynel Catrece Lane, 34, had hours before removed the caller’s unborn child.
With calm and ease in her voice, Kemper urged the woman to stay awake and alert as emergency responders made their way to her rescue.
But Kemper, 53, said she doesn’t need to be called a hero and doesn’t deserve special recognition.
“I just happened to be the one who picked up the phone,” Kemper told The Denver Post on Thursday. “She saved herself. She’s a rock star, that lady.”
Police in Longmont released the 6½-minute 911 recording of the harrowing call, which began at 2:41 p.m. Wednesday and chillingly outlines an unthinkable attack and a remarkable tale of survival.
“There’s a million things that go through your mind,” Kemper said. “Ultimately, your training kicks in. You know you have to keep your heart rate and your speech rate.”
Two minutes into the call, Kemper had gained enough information from the victim to send out a call to police.
Throughout the call Kemper remained calm and collected, telling the victim to “get a towel or anything you can get in your hands and press.”
“You stay with me, don’t go to sleep,” Kemper told the victim four times during the call. “Don’t you go to sleep.”
As she listened, Kemper said she just hoped the information the caller was giving was accurate and that responders would be safe in case there was still anyone armed at the home.
“I just don’t think that anyone could see the outcome,” she said.
“That’s something that happens in a bigger city or a movie. Not here.”
Kemper likened the victim’s survival to a miracle, saying credit for the victim being able to stay alive belongs to all of the emergency responders and not just herself.
“I love my job,” she said. “It’s the best job in the world.”
