UPDATE | Pedestrian run over by car remains in critical condition

Published 12:08 pm Monday, December 22, 2014

A well-known community volunteer was seriously injured after she was hit and trapped under a car while walking with her two grandchildren through a parking lot at the condominium complex on Harborview Drive Southeast late last week.

Katherine E. Dunn, 71, was airlifted to Seattle last Friday afternoon after she was hit by a car that was backing out of a carport at Eagle Harbor Condominiums.

Dunn remains at Harborview Medical Center in critical condition in intensive care.

The accident remains under review, and is being investigated by the Washington State Patrol.

The Washington State Patrol said Dunn was hit by a 2002 Lexus LS4 that was driven by a 91-year-old Bainbridge Island man.

Melton G. Bockman was backing out of a parking space under a carport when he hit Dunn and her 3-year-old grandson just after 3 p.m. Dec. 19.

Bainbridge Island Assistant Fire Chief Luke Carpenter said the child’s injuries were not life-threatening, but he was taken to a Kitsap hospital by a medic unit called in from North Kitsap Fire & Rescue.

The boy’s older sister was not hurt in the accident, but was visibly shaken up by the incident, Carpenter said.

After the woman was hit and wedged under the sedan, workers from a nearby construction project rushed to the scene and began putting heavy wooden beams under the vehicle to raise it high enough to free the woman.

She was still trapped when Bainbridge firefighters got to the scene, Carpenter said.

She was not conscious, he said.

“The construction workers did a great job of getting started. We got there and took over,” Carpenter said.

Using levers and wedges, emergency crews raised the vehicle and pulled the woman out. She was placed in a medic unit and taken to fire station on Madison Avenue, and an Airlift Northwest helicopter transported her to Seattle.

Carpenter said the car was not traveling very fast when it struck the pedestrians.

Dunn, a retired Bainbridge kindergarten teacher, is well-known on Bainbridge and is a fourth-generation islander.

Dunn taught at both Captain Wilkes Elementary and The Island School, and has been actively involved in community service in recent years.

“She’s really been engaged and is a very selfless person who really believes in her community and is always ready to pitch in and try to work on civic issues and civic activities,” said Barry Peters, a former Bainbridge councilman and member of the nonprofit Quality Bainbridge.

“What strikes me about Kathy is that she’s known by so many people around the island because she devoted her whole career to education on Bainbridge,” he said.

She’s been a teacher for many people on the island, Peters said, as well as their children.

Dunn was also a member of Quality Bainbridge, and served on the steering committee that formed the nonprofit in 2013 to promote island values and advocate for good government.

She was also one of the volunteers appointed to a 10-member citizens task force set up by Bainbridge Police Chief Matthew Hamner earlier this year that examined the potential for a citizens oversight board for the police department.

Most recently, she has been a member of the city’s Civil Service Commission.

Gloria Sayler called her “an incredible friend.”

“She’s got a really keen mind. She’s just very curious and always willing to look seriously at things. And at the same time has a great sense of humor,” Sayler said.

“I’m sure she’s on many people’s hearts and minds right now, because I know how many lives she touched,” she said.