During Clemson's 24-18 win over Florida State in a nationally-televised broadcast Monday, it was announced that 83,000 fans watched the game.

But if officials did a head count, they were one short. An Orangeburg woman, a lifelong Clemson fan, never completed the 2.5-hour trip to the Upstate.

"I lost a friend, a sister, a teammate," says Tilly Hunter. "I lost a lot in that one person."

On her way to the football game Monday afternoon, 35-year-old Kristy Lynn Hutto was killed in a car crash after a North Carolina man ran a stop sign, officials say.

Hunter, Hutto's co-worker at American Heritage medical transport in Orangeburg, said she'd just had lunch with her on Monday afternoon at Hutto's favorite restaurant -- IHOP.

"'Let's go to the I,' she'd say," Hunter said.

The two met more than 14 years ago as they were starting out in the EMS field. As Hutto's skill levels progressed, she made several advancements through various Midlands medical agencies, including Orangeburg County's EMS. It was Hutto's dream to help others in need, Hunter said.

"Everybody knew her," Hunter said. "She was very caring."

Very caring, it seemed. Perhaps overworked or tackling paperwork, Hutto would go on calls just so she could assist particular patients who needed special care.

"She knew them, and they loved her," Hunter said.

At 35 years old, Hutto experienced more adventure than many will in an entire life. Last year, she and Hunter took a trip to Australia to go scuba diving. Before that, it was skydiving.

Just two months ago, Hutto bought herself a 900cc Kawasaki motorcycle after developing a desire to ride with the big boys.

"She'd try anything," says Bill Williams, training officer for Orangeburg County EMS, and Hutto's training officer for motorcycles. "She was fixing that bike up with saddle bags and a radio."

With tear-rimmed eyes, Hutto's sister, Susan Garen, remembers a gal who could go from scuba or skydiving and back to girly dainty in no seconds flat.

"Everybody needs a bit of Kristy in them," Garen said.

The EMS girl who cared for her community one person at a time couldn't be described as bashful.

"When I think of her, I think about her going up to a complete stranger and talking to them," Williams said.

"She was a very outgoing girl, smiling, always smiling," EMS supervisor Stephen Ball said. "She had a definite accent, not country, but down home."

That accent may have been partially responsible for Hutto's being nicknamed "Elly May" after the character in the TV sitcom, "Beverly Hillbillies."

But perhaps Hutto's all-time favorite interest was the Andy Griffith show.

"She had coffee mugs, T-shirts, anything that had to do with Andy Griffith and Mayberry," Williams said. "She knew every show and could tell you what happened."

But, then Monday happened.

Ball said that on Monday he received a call from his mother, who had heard rumors that the popular medical responder was gone.

"I was like, 'What? Are you for real?'" Ball said. "And she said, 'Can you confirm it?' And I said I would but I don't want to.

"Sure enough, it was her."

The S.C. Highway Patrol says that around 3:40 p.m. Monday, Hutto was nearing the junction of I-26 and U.S. Highway 21. As she slowed for her turn onto the interstate, a black 2006 Chevrolet Silverado ran a frontage road stop sign. There was nowhere for Hutto to turn.

For the woman who had eased the pain and suffering of countless others, there was nothing that could be humanly done to save her life.

When EMS workers were dispatched, they were only told there had been a two-car collision. When they arrived on the scene, their typical internal distancing of themselves from the patient was shaken. They saw a license plate on the crumpled Buick. It simply read, "Mayberry."

On Tuesday, EMS and ambulance employees wore a black ribbon with an orange ribbon overlay in tribute to Hutto. The orange represented her Clemson Tigers.

"When she'd walk into the door, you knew Kristy was here," Williams said.

Today, that door, those halls, the medical training rooms where Hutto proclaimed her presence are quiet. The only sound that may be heard is Hutto's laughter, heard through the memories and recollections of those who loved the country girl who loved a community.

T&D Staff Writer Richard Walker can be reached by e-mail at rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5516. Discuss this and other stories on-line at TheTandD.com.

You must be logged in to comment.