Good Samaritan comes to the rescue for mom and kids

Dana Bellefeuille was rollerblading with her two kids in Celebration Park when they literally ran into trouble.

On the evening of June 11, her daughter, who was riding a bicycle, accidentally struck Bellefeuille from behind. She crashed to the ground and broke her wrist, causing a bone to protrude through the skin.

About this time, Jeff Wolf was driving home when he saw the scene at 333rd Street and 8th Avenue South. Wolf loaded the mother, children and their bicycles into his truck and headed to St. Francis Hospital. Bellefeuille's husband, Todd, was in Spokane at the time, and her mother, a Federal Way resident, was also out of town.

"There was nobody I could call to be at the hospital with me," she said. "I was 100 percent alone."

While doctors treated her injured wrist, Wolf looked after her special needs kids in the hospital cafeteria. Her husband was able to contact a baby-sitter, who arrived a few hours later to take care of Jared, 9, and Jessica, 8.

Wolf credits CERT emergency response training for putting him in the right mindset.

"You've got to make a choice that you're going to help people ahead of time," said Wolf, who is also a surface water management engineer for the City of Federal Way. "It's just a choice. I could have driven right by that lady. I was heading to pack to Alaska for a fishing trip the next day."

He added: "That lady was the toughest lady I've ever seen... That obviously had to hurt. She's barking out commands. I would have been passed out at that point."

In fact, several people passed by before Wolf stopped to assist, Bellefeuille said.

"You could definitely tell that I was injured and in need of help," said Bellefeuille, who waved her bloody limb in an effort to flag down people. "No one was stopping. It was heartbreaking."

Her wrist is now healing, complete with titanium plates and screws. Bellefeuille said that during the ordeal, Wolf tried to set her mind at ease by repeatedly showing his city identification.

"I said, ‘Jeff, I trust you. I need you right now. I have no choice,’" she said, grateful that a total stranger was willing to stop and help, then stay at her family's side. "He was really an angel. There needs to be a million more Jeffs in the world."