MUKWONAGO — What started as a peaceful hike at Paradise Springs ended in panic for a Mukwonago family when 7-year-old Charly Grall-Kahn suffered a traumatic hand injury.
Charly was throwing rocks near the pond when one slipped. Instead of going out, the rock came right back down.
“I tried to throw it out, but it slipped out of my hand,” she said. “I put my hands down on the concrete wall, and it just came down on my hand. I knew I had broken bones. It just hurt so bad that I knew it.”
Bleeding and in shock, Charly’s mother, Tina Grall, grabbed her daughter’s arm to slow the bleeding. As they rushed back toward their car, two strangers noticed something was wrong.
“They knew I was hurt,” Charly said. “He ran to his Jeep and had this ginormous medical kit.”
That stranger was an Army veteran from Illinois. Alongside his wife, Kasey Hayes, he began applying gauze and stabilizing Charly’s hand.
“It was a right place, right time situation,” said Hayes, of Rockford, Illinois. “He doesn’t want recognition. He did it to help someone.”
Tina said it happened so quickly that her family didn’t even catch the couple’s names. So, later that night, she posted in a local Mukwonago Facebook group hoping to find them.
Within half an hour, someone connected her with the Illinois couple.
But that wasn’t the only connection made.
Another Mukwonago woman saw the post: Vicki Sanfelipo, executive director of Accident Scene Management—the world’s largest motorcycle trauma training nonprofit.
Watch: Mukwonago family gifted trauma kit following hiking accident
Sanfelipo has taught emergency trauma response for more than 25 years, and she knew exactly how vital this type of preparedness is.
“The story pulled at my heartstrings,” Sanfelipo said. “I’m right here in my office building trauma packs every day. I’d like to gift one to them.”
She invited Tina and Charly to her office just 10 minutes down the road and donated a trauma kit of their own—adding a few extra-large bandages with a laugh.
“I was floored,” Tina said. “She’s a hidden gem in our community that we didn’t have a clue about. And I don’t think Mukwonago knows.”
Sanfelipo said she created Accident Scene Management after realizing early on that many people needed not just training—but tools.
“After my first year of teaching, it became apparent that people not only need training but also need supplies,” she said.
Those supplies mirror what the Illinois couple had in their Jeep that day—saline, gauze, gloves, and tools designed to buy time until help arrives.
“It’s something I think every household should have,” Hayes said. “Be prepared. You never know if it’s going to happen to you.”
Tina agreed, saying even though she considers herself a prepared mom, her small first-aid kit in the trunk couldn’t handle a situation like this.
“You can’t always plan for these things,” she said. “Help others. And have supplies you need—because you never know.”
For more information, you can visit Accident Scene Management.
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