HEATHER CASEY
Firehouse.Com News

Courtesy William LaFene

Paramedic Jennifer LaFene, an eight-year veteran of North Central EMS in Bellevue, Ohio, was killed in the line of duty Tuesday.

LaFene, 30, and another paramedic were traveling on Ohio 101 about a mile outside Tiffin when they stopped to help an elderly man on the side of the highway.

"They were going to make a transport at Tiffin Mercy," said Sgt. Russ Clark of the Fremont Patrol Post in Sandusky County. "They came upon an elderly man walking along the side of the road and almost hit him."

"They turned around and came back to get him off the road," Clark said. LaFene left the vehicle, crossed the road and was talking the man, 82-year-old John Wood of Tiffin, when she was hit by a minivan at 6:14 p.m.

Wood was also hit, either by the vehicle or by LaFene being propelled into him, Clark said.

Elaine Gibson, an advanced EMT from Tiffin Fire and Rescue, responded to the incident.

Gibson said the impact broke the van’s windshield and threw LaFene 50 to 60 feet in the air. She sustained severe head trauma, a broken neck and had no pulse, Gibson said. She died on the scene, and the Life Flight transport was canceled.

Wood was uninjured aside from shoulder pain, and the driver of the minivan was unharmed. Clark said the incident is still under investigation.

LaFene leaves behind a one-year-old son, a four-year-old daughter, and her husband William LaFene, a career firefighter/paramedic in Perkins Township.

"Jen did what she did best. She put someone else’s safety above her own," said North Central EMS Executive Director Don Ballah in a written statement. "There is no greater sacrifice that she could have given. She was family, and her loss is felt very deeply."

LaFene, who taught sixth grade at Immaculate Conception School in Bellevue from 1998 to 2000, was still working there occasionally as a substitute teacher.

Friends can call Friday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Groff Funeral Home at 1607 East Perkins Ave in Sandusky. The service will take place 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Paul Lutheran Church at 143 West Forest St. in Clyde.