“Right place at the right time”: Strangers reconnect after “freak accident” in Ocean City

OCEAN CITY, Md. – Ocean City is a place where locals enjoy backyard beauty, and visitors vacation.

The Multari family hit the resort town in July, and 11-year-old Katey was especially excited.

“She had a blast, I mean, the days leading up to it were wonderful,” said Katey’s mom, Kim.

It was an accident Katey had in the water, just a few hundred feet from where here family was sitting.

“I was in the water, and I didn’t notice this big wave was coming and I turned around and jumped into it. It knocked me down and I tried to get back up, and another one hit me and my arm buckled,” Katey recalled.

In seconds, Katey’s fun time at the beach turned scary, and her arm was clearly broken from the impact of the wave. Luckily, someone else was in the right place at the right time.

“I’m a nurse; I’ve been a nurse for 25 years, and my husband said, ‘Go up there,’ which I was going to do anyways. That’s when I went up and I met Katey,” Stephanie Duhan, another Ocean City visitor, said.

Stephanie quickly worked to stabilize Katey’s arm. Armed with resourcefulness, she kept Katey comfortable until help arrived.

“I told her what I was doing, this might hurt a little bit, but I’m holding it to stabilize you,” Stephanie said.

In the whirlwind of the situation, Kim lost track of Stephanie when she went in the back of the ambulance with her daughter. But just like Stephanie was determined to help Katey, Kim was determined to find her daughter’s beach angel.

“I joined the OceanCity.com website, and I guess I kind of reached out to them via private message and said here’s the scenario; I’m really trying hard to find this person,” said Kim.

“My husband works with somebody whose mother saw a post from Ocean City, who forwarded it to her daughter, who forwarded it to my husband, and I went on, and it was Kim and Katey,” Stephanie said.

Now, Kim said her daughter has a forever friend.

“Katey says as soon as she gets this cast off her arm, she’s going to write her a letter, personally thanking her,” said Kim.