By the night of Oct. 14, Bellefontaine Police Chief Brandon Standley had already placed the order for a plaque listing Krista McDonald as the department’s Dispatcher of the Year.
His heart sank when he learned the 41-year-old dispatcher known for her attention to detail and reliability had died that day driving an ambulance while volunteering with the Southeast Hardin Ambulance District.
“Shortly after I placed the order, tragedy struck our department,” Chief Standley said Thursday evening at the sixth annual awards banquet. “Only Lt. (Rick) Herring and I knew at that time Krista McDonald was our Dispatcher of the Year.
“I struggled with how to tell the family. I didn’t want them to think this was something we were doing just because she died. I wanted them to know that our officers selected her.
“I made the decision to tell the family at the funeral home while we were planning the service and it was one of the hardest conversations I’ve ever had,” Chief Standley said.
Although still in shock from their loss, the significance of the honor began to sink home, McDonald’s sister, Jenny Strickland, who accepted the award on behalf of the family, said.
Bellefontaine Police Chief Brandon Standley, right, Lt. Rick Herring and Gary Mohr, left, director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections applaud as Jenny Strickland accepts the Dispatcher of the Year Award on behalf of her sister Krista McDonald, who died in an ambulance crash just after her coworkers voted her recipient of the annual honor. (EXAMINER PHOTO | REUBEN MEES)
“At the time it was hard,” she said, thinking back to the funeral that involved hundreds of law enforcement and emergency personnel. “Everything was so … awesome. It took us several days to process it all. I don’t think words could ever express how grateful we are for everything.”
Not quite a month since their loss, the family is still recovering, but the support of the police department has been overwhelming, Strickland said.
“The BPD and dispatchers were Krista’s family and we love them for that,” she said. “Even with her death, it’s amazing the way they all stick together.”
Read complete story in Friday’s Examiner.
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