Athlete thanks paramedics who saved her life

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - Months after suffering a traumatic brain injury a college softball star thanked the paramedics who rushed to her aid.

Kali Shultz was home for the summer and hanging out with her boyfriend at a Gwinnett County park when she fell off a longboard.

"I remember going to the park, but I don't remember falling and hitting my head," Kali Shultz said. 

The Breneau University athlete suffered a traumatic brain injury and was hospitalized for months.

"When we got there and saw her, we knew immediately that something was seriously wrong," Gwinnett County Lieutenant Fire Paramedic Dan Staton said. 

Kali has spent every waking hour since the May accident trying to get better.

"It's been hard," Shultz said. "I even had to learn how to tie my shoes again." 

In recent weeks, Kali got back to doing something she loves...playing softball with her dad.

"It felt really good," Shultz said. 

Kali said one of the first things she wanted to do once she got out of the hospital was thank the paramedics who she said saved her life.

"It was really important for me to see them and thank them for what they did," Shultz said. 

Recently, Kali went to the Gwinnett County fire station to do just that. 

"When she walked in it just made us so happy to see her because the last time we saw her she wasn't doing well at all," Gwinnett County Fire Paramedic Dominique Floyd said. 

Gwinnett County Lieutenant Fire Paramedic Dan Staton said her kind gesture meant the world to him and the rest of the emergency personnel. 

"We have a lot of unclosed chapter with the patients we see," Staton said. "We often times don't know how they end up, so for her to come back and see us means everything to us. It's stories like hers that remind you of why we do what we do."