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A traffic stop is usually bad news. But for one South Carolina woman, it likely saved her life.
Police in the coastal South Carolina town of Mount Pleasant responded to a call about a possible drunk driver back in December. Their dash cam recorded the driver, Tamara Palmer, hitting multiple curbs and drifting in and out of her lane.
“Have you had anything to drink today?” one of the officers asked after pulling her over.
Palmer responded that yes, she had some tea.
That answer combined with Palmer’s erratic driving and her complaint about a brutal headache prompted the officers to call an ambulance.
Palmer still can’t believe what happened next.
In shock
Palmer remembers being placed in an ambulance and waking up while getting an MRI. Soon after, doctors told her she had a brain tumor.
One hospital transfer and two days later, doctors performed an emergency, eight-hour surgery on Palmer to remove the tumor, which was not cancerous.
“I’m still in shock,” Palmer told USA TODAY on Friday. “The officers recognized my medical condition so fast and sent me to the ER. If they didn’t react so quickly and let me go, who knows what would have happened.”
Palmer said that her doctor believes the tumor had been growing since 1986, when the 58-year-old lived about 10 miles from the Chernobyl nuclear plant explosion in Ukraine.
Palmer was 22 at the time and said didn’t leave the area for about three days, at first believing government assurances that there was no danger. Palmer said she moved to the U.S. 10 years after that to seek treatment for one of her daughters, who developed a dangerous skin condition from the radiation.
Thanking her ‘angels’
About two months after her life-saving surgery, Palmer tracked down the two officers who helped save her: Patrolman Bret Aton and Officer Raymond Schoonmaker.
On Friday, Palmer presented them with awards for saving her life. Another ceremony open to the public is set for Tuesday.
Palmer, a teacher’s assistant, said she was grateful to be able to thank the officers.
“I wake up every morning thinking about them and saying, ‘Thank you, God, for sending me these angels,'” Palmer said.
Palmer’s surgery was on Dec. 4. One week later, it was her 58th birthday.
“They gave me the best birthday gift I could ask for: my life.”
