EMT recounts being hit by a car while on the job; provides recovery update
By Derek Heid
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CITY OF TONAWANDA, New York (WKBW) — Hannah Rowland, the Twin City Ambulance EMT who tells me she nearly died after being hit by a car while on the job, is now at home recovering from her injuries.
December 26, the day after Christmas, was a normal workday for Rowland. The 21-year-old EMT was working alongside her co-worker, another EMT, when the two pulled over to help a driver on the side of the I-290’s off-ramp to Niagara Falls Boulevard in the Town of Tonawanda.
The problem, the roads that night were covered in ice.
update
Hannah Rowland, the Twin City Ambulance EMT who tells 7 News she nearly died after being hit by a car while on the job, is now at home recovering from her injuries. By: Derek Heid Posted 11:08 PM, Jan 16, 2026 and last updated 10:15 AM, Jan 17, 2026 Derek Heid Hello! I’m covering Niagara County for 7 News WKBW. If you have a story idea, please email me at Derek.Heid@wkbw.com CITY OF TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WKBW) — Hannah Rowland, the Twin City Ambulance EMT who tells me she nearly died after being hit by a car while on the job, is now at home recovering from her injuries.
December 26, the day after Christmas, was a normal workday for Rowland. The 21-year-old EMT was working alongside her co-worker, another EMT, when the two pulled over to help a driver on the side of the I-290’s off-ramp to Niagara Falls Boulevard in the Town of Tonawanda.
The problem, the roads that night were covered in ice.
“Another motorist lost control and hit me on my left side,” Rowland said.”I ended up under the car, pinned. Under the first car, pinned by my leg.”
Suddenly, Rowland was no longer the person helping out somebody in need. She was the patient and in desperate need of help.
“While I was under the car, I called my mom to say goodbye, before I called 911,” Rowland said. “I had a severe laceration, my calf was hanging out of my leg, to the bone on this [right] leg. And a severe laceration on this [left] leg. The laceration comes across the back of my knee, and I also have a puncture wound on the bottom, on my ankle.”
Eventually, another Twin City Ambulance, manned by her own supervisor, showed up at Rowland’s aid.
“I just remember just being like, ‘Please, don’t let me die,'” Rowland said. “It was very scary for her, and for me.”
Rowland was eventually rushed to ECMC, where she spent a week in treatment. Doctors and nurses were able to save both her life and her legs.
“I’m so grateful for the ECMC nurses and doctors and the patients that came with, even the first responders,” Rowland said. “I think it’s going to be an uphill battle for a little bit, taking it week-by-week and appointment-by-appointment.”
A friend of hers started a GoFundMe that friends and neighbors donated to in bulk, raising more than $22,000 for her recovery.
Rowland has since closed donations to the GoFundMe page. Instead, she’s asking people to donate to Hospice & Palliative Care Buffalo to help other families in need.
She tells me she has a long road to recovery, but she plans to work again as an EMT as soon as she is able.
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