Little did Kenny Chastain know that a routine job would lead to an extraordinary act.  The alert NECAC weatherization crew leader helped an elderly woman who suffered severe injuries in a fall at her home. Typical of his personality, Chastain downplayed his role, but he may have saved the woman’s life.

“I don’t want nothing from it,” he said. “I think people should help without asking for anything in return.”

Chastain remembers it starting as an unremarkable day. He and weatherization technician Jacob Schler arrived at a client’s house for an ordinary hot water heater installation. That’s when things took a turn. Chastain looked across the street and saw a woman’s feet protruding from the front door.

“She was hollering ‘Help,’” he recalled. “My instinct told me to go and check what was going on. I asked her what she thought was wrong. She said she thought she had a broken neck.”

The elderly woman had fallen as she came back into her house, and had been stranded on the floor unable to move for more than an hour. Chastain immediately called 911 and waited with the woman until a fire truck and paramedics arrived. He credits his training from six years of working at prisons in Bowling Green and Vandalia for guiding him on how to handle the emergency. An ambulance took the woman to a Columbia hospital. She had, indeed, broken her neck and also had spinal injuries. The woman’s daughter contacted Chastain through Facebook and thanked him for his efforts. Chastain, who has been with NECAC weatherization for more than three years, remained humble about his actions. As soon as first responders took care of the situation, he went back to work.  So, did the hot water heater get installed that day at the client’s house? Well, nothing unusual.

“Yeah,” Chastain said with a smile. “We did it.”