Woman Fell, Broke Her Hip, But Insisted on Voting for Trump

A South Carolina woman tripped over her own feet on the way to a polling place on Feb. 24, broke her hip, and refused to be loaded into an ambulance unless she could cast a vote in the state Republican primary for 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 on Feb. 24, told The Epoch Times she tripped over her own feet when she was hurrying in to vote for President Donald 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 gonna get there and vote. No matter if I gotta crawl there,” she said.

She said she especially wanted to go the extra yard for President Trump because of the “pain” people against him have put him through.

Brian Shiel, a local security guard who was volunteering at the poll that day, said he saw Ms. Johnson fall and called 911.

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“She was hurting, really hurting,” he said, adding that she had to be loaded on a stretcher.

Mr. Shiel told The Epoch Times he was shocked when she refused to be taken to the hospital until she cast her vote.

“She was yelling, no, no, no I have to vote for Trump,” he said.

Mr. Shiel said he admired her dedication not only to President Trump but to her civic duty to vote.

“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 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,” said Ms. Shoemaker.

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 of how the country’s being run to want to have her vote counted,” said Ms. Shoemaker. “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 he couldn’t agree more. That’s why he posted about it on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Mr. Warren, a Christian conservative, is seeking to unseat Democratic incumbent Katrina Haley, who has held South Carolina’s state senate district 23 since 2012. 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 when the nurse who was attending to her realized how determined Ms. Johnson was to vote, she 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 was not working because it was not plugged in.

Ms. Shoemaker said the machines are equipped with batteries that can run the machines for up to two hours. She said it is not 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,” said Ms. Shoemaker.

Ms. Shoemaker 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 Ms. Johnson’s patriotism would 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,” Ms. Rucker said.

She 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,” said Ms. Rucker, “if he comes to meet her, that would be amazing.”