Menard employee comes to aid of co-worker after crash

<span>Illinois Department of Corrections Spokesman Tom Shaer has confirmed a Menard Correctional Center employee was involved in a traffic accident that occurred on Route 3 in mid-October.</span>

<span>October 14, Menard Correctional Center Warden Kim Butler was en route to work when she came upon a single vehicle rollover accident on Route 3.</span>

<span>Butler pulled over and turned on her emergency lights to alert other drivers of the accident. As she approached the vehicle, she immediately recognized Menard employee Bette Goetting standing in a muddy field, ankle deep in mud, on the phone with 911.</span>

<span>Goetting, who is an educator in Menard's Medium Security unit, was simultaneously talking to the dispatcher while calming the occupant of the car. </span>

<span>Goetting had witnessed the vehicle hydroplane on the pavement, roll several times and finally land upside-down in a nearby field.</span>

<span>The occupant, MCC Correctional Officer Mike Ben-Avi, was pinned inside.</span>

<span>Ben-Avi had recently left the facility after working the 11 p.m to 7 a.m. shift and had to be extracted from the vehicle using the Jaws of Life. He suffered minor injuries and returned to work in less than a week, according to Shaer.</span>

<span>Later that same day, Butler received a call from the Murphysboro Police Department praising Goetting for her actions.</span>

<span>"Her professionalism in speaking with us, coupled with her compassion for her fellow employee, made a bad situation more bearable for the trapped officer," said Murphysboro Police Department Sgt. Brian Brewer in a letter to Butler that was received Oct. 20. "I truly appreciate her bearing, allowing her to provide comfort to her fellow employee while informing us in this high-stress environment."</span>

<span>Butler later spoke with Goetting and thanked her for assisting the motorist. No one was cited by police in the accident.</span>