Shelli Hebert didn’t hesitate when she saw her 2-year-old grandson running toward an oncoming tractor-trailer. She raced after him, putting herself in harm’s way to shield him from the impact.
Now, more than a week after the Sept. 28 accident in Ames, both Shelli and little Kylen Hebert are recovering from serious injuries. While Kylen is making encouraging progress, Shelli faces a longer road to recovery, having already undergone six surgeries with at least one more ahead of her.
For Patricia Chargois, a beloved retired Liberty County teacher and Shelli’s mother, the frightening moments of that evening are still fresh in her mind. She witnessed her daughter race after Kylen as the toddler headed toward Martin Luther King Jr. Drive near CR 158 in Ames.
“We were all in the front yard, waiting for Nikki to leave,” Chargois recalled, referring to another of her daughters, who had been visiting from San Antonio.
Earlier that evening, Kylen had been playing with family members, including a game of chase. When he suddenly ran toward the road, Chargois believes the toddler may have thought the game was continuing.
“We kept calling him, and he thought she was playing with him,” Chargois said, explaining that Kylen had been playing chase with his aunt Nikki earlier that day.
But this time, the little boy was running toward danger.
Chargois said Kylen had gotten a head start on Shelli, who desperately tried to catch him before he reached the roadway.
“He just didn’t stop, and that’s when I saw the big truck coming,” she said.
Chargois began screaming as Shelli ran toward the child, shielding him from the worst of the impact. The left side of her body took the brunt of the collision.
According to Sgt. Rob Willoughby, supervisor for the Liberty County office of the Texas Department of Public Safety, the driver of the 2025 Kenworth tractor-trailer pulling a 2020 tanker took evasive action to avoid a direct impact. Despite the driver’s efforts, both Shelli and Kylen suffered serious injuries in a glancing collision.
Shelli’s injuries have required six surgeries so far, with at least one more expected. Chargois said her daughter will also require skin grafting as part of her recovery. She also suffered broken toes from the truck tires rolling over her feet.
Kylen, meanwhile, is making encouraging progress. He is now walking with assistance and participating in therapy. His family expects him to be transferred to Texas Children’s Hospital in the coming days for continued rehabilitation.
Chargois recalled an emotional moment when she visited Kylen during a therapy session.
“They were walking him down the hall, and he saw me, and he just reached out and started crying,” she said.
The toddler has not required surgery, according to Chargois, but the experience has been difficult for someone so young.
“He doesn’t understand why all these different people are over him,” she said, referring to the medical personnel caring for him.
While Kylen continues to improve, Shelli’s recovery is expected to take considerably longer. Chargois said her daughter has remained remarkably positive despite everything she has endured.
“She has not complained one time,” Chargois said. “She doesn’t say she hurts. She doesn’t say anything.”
Instead, Shelli has focused on being thankful that Kylen survived, Chargois added.
Chargois said others have described her daughter’s actions as heroic, including her pastor, who told Shelli he had a newfound respect for her courage.
Shelli, however, doesn’t see herself as a hero.
“I don’t feel like a hero. I just feel like I was saving my baby,” Shelli told her mother.
Kylen is Shelli’s only grandchild and the only child of her daughter, Sydnee Hebert, a teacher and coach at Dayton ISD.
In the days since the accident, the family has been surrounded by an outpouring of support from friends, neighbors, Chargois’ former students and members of the community.
Chargois said people have brought food, offered transportation to the Houston Medical Center and helped with countless other needs while family members have remained at the hospitals.
Friends and former students have also reached out to Chargois, offering rides and whatever assistance she might need.
Support has come from far beyond Liberty County, including friends who traveled from Austin to be with the family shortly after the accident. Chargois also praised the support of Sydnee’s former softball teammates and friends.
Neighbors have stepped in to help with meals and household needs while the family concentrates on Shelli and Kylen’s recoveries.
“Everybody has chipped in,” Chargois said.
She said the family has been especially touched by the prayers offered on their behalf. Those prayers, she believes, have helped sustain them through an ordeal no family ever wants to experience.
“We’re praying, and we feel the prayers,” she said.
For Chargois, seeing her daughter endure multiple surgeries while Kylen works to regain his strength has been difficult. But she is grateful that both are alive and making progress.
She hopes the community will continue praying for Shelli and Kylen as they face the next stages of their recoveries.
“That’s what we need, the prayer,” Chargois said. “And that’s what’s keeping us going right now.”