A South Carolina woman who tripped on the way to a polling place on Feb. 24 and broke her hip refused to be loaded into an ambulance unless she could cast a vote in the state Republican primary for former President Donald Trump.
Valerie Johnson, who is now recovering from hip surgery at an area hospital following her fall in the parking lot on the way to a polling place at the White Knoll High School in Lexington, South Carolina, told The Epoch Times that she tripped over her own feet when she was hurrying in to vote for President Trump.
Ms. Johnson, who is in her 60s, said she was in a great deal of pain after she fell but was determined to vote.
“I told myself, I’m going to get there and vote. No matter if I got to crawl there,” she said.
Ms. Johnson said she especially wanted to go the extra yard for President Trump because of the “pain” people who are against him have put him through.
Brian Shiel, a local security guard who was volunteering at the polling place that day, said he saw Ms. Johnson fall and called 911.
“She was hurting, really hurting,” he said, adding that she had to be loaded onto a stretcher.
Mr. Shiel told The Epoch Times that he was shocked when she refused to be taken to the hospital until after she cast her vote.
“She was yelling, ‘No, no, no, I have to vote for Trump,’” he said.
Mr. Shiel said he admired Ms. Johnson’s dedication not only to President Trump but to her civic duty to vote.
“[There are] a lot of people who won’t even go out to the polls if it’s raining,” he said.
Lenice Shoemaker, director of registrations and elections in Lexington County, told The Epoch Times that she has had “very old” elderly people who can no longer walk, disabled people with such hand deformities that they could only use their knuckles, and very pregnant women participate in curbside voting, but never anyone lying on the ground surrounded by first responders.
“This would be a first for me and, I believe, for Lexington County, and maybe even South Carolina and the nation,” Ms. Shoemaker said.
Because Ms. Johnson was lying on the ground, the curbside voting machine had to be taken down from the cart and placed on the ground. The machine is usually wheeled to a car and lifted toward the window.
Ms. Shoemaker said Ms. Johnson was required to show identification in order to cast her vote.
She called Ms. Johnson “everyone’s hero” and commended her for her unwavering dedication to exercising her right to vote.
“I’m so glad she cares enough [about] how the country’s being run to want to have her vote counted,” Ms. Shoemaker said. “And those votes do count. I have had people win by one vote, and I have had people lose by one vote.”
South Carolina Republican state Senate candidate Zoe Warren told The Epoch Times that he couldn’t agree more with that sentiment. That’s why he posted about it on X, formerly known as Twitter.
A conservative, he is seeking to unseat Republican incumbent Katrina Shealy, who has held South Carolina’s state senate district 23 since 2013. He was at the polling place along with other candidates when Ms. Johnson fell. He said he and others rushed to her side. The group included a nurse, who determined that Ms. Johnson had likely broken her hip and possibly suffered a head injury.
Mr. Warren, a staunch Trump supporter himself, told The Epoch Times that when the nurse who was attending to Ms. Johnson realized how determined she was to vote, the nurse grabbed a blanket out of her car and put it under Ms. Johnson’s head to make her more comfortable while she cast her vote.
According to Mr. Warren, EMTs placed Ms. Johnson in an emergency hip fracture stabilization wrap to get her onto a spine board in order to get her onto the gurney.
Ms. Johnson also confirmed to The Epoch Times that doctors determined she had broken her hip and underwent surgery for it.
Some users on X alleged that the voting machine wasn’t working because it wasn’t plugged in.
Ms. Shoemaker said the machines are equipped with batteries that can run the machines for up to two hours. She said it isn’t uncommon to wheel the machines out to people for curbside voting.
To qualify for curbside voting in Lexington County, you have to either be 65 years or older or unable to walk or stand.
“Ms. Johnson definitely qualified,” Ms. Shoemaker said.
She said she was also proud of her poll workers for following protocols while showing Ms. Johnson compassion.
Christina Rucker, a member of the Lexington School Board, also witnessed the scene after arriving with her husband after Ms. Johnson was placed in the ambulance. When she found out what happened, she said she hoped that Ms. Johnson’s patriotism will rub off on other people and inspire those who might otherwise stay home to get out and vote.
Ms. Rucker, also a Trump supporter, said she can understand Ms. Johnson’s determination to “do everything she can do to make a difference.”
“Honestly, I think more and more people realize we were doing much better under his leadership and to see that deteriorate over the past few years has been very hard to watch,” she said.
Ms. Rucker joined Mr. Warren and Mr. Sheil in expressing their hopes that Ms. Johnson might get a chance someday to meet President Trump.
“She definitely did her part in the primary,” Ms. Rucker said. “If he comes to meet her, that would be amazing.”
