She got into a car wreck the day before Christmas Eve. Her iPhone called for help
A car crash the day before Christmas Eve offered Tara Doyle-Enneking a silver lining, she said.
Doyle-Enneking, her husband, father and two dogs were in a head-on collision around 5 p.m. Dec. 23 in Idaho. They were on a two-lane highway headed north to Montana when a driver traveling south in a Chevrolet Tahoe struck their Ford F-350.
Everyone involved survived. Doyle-Enneking said the other driver admitted to police that she had been drinking.
“I just felt so grateful to be alive,” said Doyle-Enneking, who is president and CEO of the Puyallup Sumner Chamber of Commerce.
Eureka, Montana is where Doyle-Enneking and Mike Enneking have a cabin. The plan was to spend the holidays there, she said. Their starting point was Tacoma, which is where the couple lives.
The way to their destination was “pretty snowy,” Doyle-Enneking said. Their pickup truck hauled a trailer with Christmas decorations, a snow bike and the dogs’ kennels.
The family briefly stopped near Sandpoint, Idaho, to get a block heater for the truck. Doyle-Enneking said they kept having problems with the diesel fuel due to the cold temperature. Block heaters warm a vehicle’s engine and fluids.
After getting one, they hopped back on the road and drove north of Sandpoint toward Bonners Ferry. A lot of traffic was coming at them, Doyle-Enneking said.
“Sure enough … someone was just driving straight at us,” Doyle-Enneking said. “We’re both going anywhere between maybe 45 and 50 each, and it’s a two-lane highway.”
Doyle-Enneking said she thought that moment was the end.
Her husband didn’t really have a choice, she said, because to their left was more oncoming traffic and to their right was a snow bank over 4 feet tall.
“Every airbag in the car deployed,” Doyle-Enneking said. “I instantly felt like I couldn’t breathe and felt like something internally was happening.”
After the collision, Mike Enneking hopped out of the car, and his father-in-law John Doyle got out sometime after. Doyle-Enneking said she was attempting to tell her husband and father that she wasn’t OK, but she couldn’t talk.
“I was really scared because I realized I was the only one in the car,” Doyle-Enneking said. “I just felt like I couldn’t move … I just knew I was in a ton of pain and couldn’t breathe.”
Cellphone asks whether to call 911
Doyle-Enneking suddenly heard a voice out of nowhere. It was coming from her iPhone 14. The phone said it detected that she just experienced a high-impact incident, and asked her to say “Yes” if that was true.
Unbeknownst to Doyle-Enneking, her phone also notified her husband that she was involved in a crash. Her husband received the message because she has him listed as an emergency contact.
“It immediately turned from a robotic voice to a 911 dispatcher who was very great,” Doyle-Enneking said.
First responders arrived a couple of minutes after. Doyle-Enneking and her father were taken away in an ambulance while a police officer dropped off her husband and dogs at a local hotel.
Doyle, 84, didn’t have any fractures. Enneking, 62, was okay. Doyle-Enneking, 54, had nine fractured ribs, a fractured lumbar, as well as a few hand and ankle injuries. The dogs were okay. The truck and trailer were totaled.
Doyle-Enneking said she is grateful for the good Samaritans who helped them at Bonner General Health in Sandpoint. Her husband was able to hitch rides to and from the hotel and hospital, she said. Her best friend also drove a truck to them so they’d have a vehicle to use.
The hospital room Doyle-Enneking stayed in had a big window, allowing her to watch the snowfall. Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel also kept her company. She said the nurses were nice, and she was able to connect with a lot of people who cared for her and her family.
Dozens reached out to Doyle-Enneking through texts and calls, she said, making her feel like she was living in her own Hallmark movie.
“I’ve got this amazing community that is so supportive,” Doyle-Enneking said.
Doyle-Enneking said she is recovering well and is resting at their cabin in Montana. She was discharged from the hospital Dec. 26 and plans to return to work Jan. 9.
This story was originally published January 2, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
