I might have saved a life...

[azfiddle]

Last Saturday, my DH was riding in a 95 mile event in Douglas, AZ. I didn't participate because it was mostly for faster cyclists than me. So I was out on the course with my car, passing out bottles to friends half way through. After they had all passed me, I started following the course back to the start/finish.

As a drove along the course, I passed a cyclist sitting on the side of the road, with his bike on the ground. It looked odd, so I stopped, went back and asked him if was okay. Moments later, we were joined by one of the bike patrol on the route. The rider was a little slow in his responses, although he was coherent, and accepted a ride back. He answered questions, though he didn't really initiate much conversation, but he did tell me he had been in bike-car accident earlier in the week, which had destroyed his helmet.

I brought him back to the finish and found an EMT from the Border Patrol to check him out. The EMT called an ambulance crew- although the guy seemed to check out okay physically, they encouraged him to go to a hospital for evaluation. After all was said and done, they airlifted him to Tucson. Sunday I was able to contact his friend who told me he had been checked in to the hospital and had undergone surgery for a subdeural hematoma on Sunday morning (from the accident earlier in the week). Fortunately, he will be okay. He called me yesterday to thank me, and he sounded much better, but he has 19 staples in his head.

I was so glad

[emily_in_nc]

Woah...that is pretty intense. Good for you for following your instincts and checking on him, azfiddle. Sounds like he really needed the help!

[OakLeaf]

Wow. Good for you. Hope he makes a full recovery.

[Bike Writer]

One person taking the time to be concerned is the difference between life and death, congtrats to you for being a good Samaratian. I bet the patient is happy to have had you come along.

[zoom-zoom]

Wow...he's so lucky you happened to be right there at the right time. I'm glad his story has a happy ending.

[lph]

Whoah!! Well done, azfiddle, you did a good thing. Good for you for not letting him go.

[Catrin]

Very well done! You did very well in listening to your instincts, and glad to hear that he is on the road to recovery.

[Wasp]

Speaking as a former ER nurse, I have no doubt in my mind you saved this mans life. Often times when dealing with head trauma minutes can make the difference between life and death. You have made a huge positive difference in this mans life and played a huge role in preventing a disastrous outcome. You should feel really good about that. Thank you for checking on him. Glad to hear he's expected to make a full recovery.

[DebSP]

Way to go! It must feel good to know you followed your gut and it helped someone.

[gocard]

Way to go! This world is in a much better place today because of your selfless actions. :) I am glad you went with your gut and helped him out.

[Melalvai]

Thanks for sharing. It's hard to know when something's wrong like that. I will definitely keep your experience in mind and try to be aware of things like that. Hopefully I never have to use the lesson but good to know about it.

[TigerMom]

Great Job! Sometimes we are all so self-involved that we might not stop to help like you took the time to do.
___________________________________________________________________
2012 Specialized Amira Elite, upgraded carbon handle bars, Jett saddle 143mm switched to 145mm 2012 Selle Italia Max SLR Gel Flow saddle
2010 Santa Cruz Juliana with R kit and Crampon pedals
2011 Specialized Ariel Sport,suspension post,Serfas Rx Women's Microfiber saddle (sold)

[azfiddle]

Thanks for all the kind words. I was probably extra alert because I knew I was on the course of the event, but would have stopped if I was on my bike as well. He seems to be a very nice guy and when he called on Friday to thank me, he said that the neurologist had "cleared him for everything".

[Koronin]

Wow. Glad you were in the right place to help him.

[indysteel]

Good on you!

[Cynedra]

Way to go. You are awesome. I generally try to make sure riders are okay if I see one stopped, but don't know if I would question too much if they said they were okay.

[Anelia]

Wow, I was scared to read to the end. So glad the guy made it!

[zoom-zoom]

How odd is this -- yesterday 2 emergency vehicles showed up at our CX race here in MI. Apparently some guy had been in a car/bike accident earlier in the week and was given the go-ahead by his PCP to compete this weekend...sometime during or after the race he was not feeling well. We commented that his doc likely had no clue re: the intensity of a CX race.

[MojoGrrl]

It makes me happy to know that there are people like you out there!

[azfiddle]

So Zoom-zoom- what happened to the rider at the cyclo-cross race? I was told that the intensity of effort of racing up a big hill etc, would have put a lot more pressure on the brain, increased the bleeding etc with respect to the guy I helped.

[salsabike]

Az, nice work--thank you!

[Jiffer]

Wow, that's pretty crazy! You must feel good that you were able to get him to the help he needed. You just never know in those situations. I've been involved with two incidents of people getting a concussion after passing out briefly, one in a bike accident and one a snowboarding accident. With both they did the whole nine yards of the ambulance and the tests "just to be safe", and that's really all it was because both people were ultimately fine. But then there are those times when "just to be safe" reveals something pretty major, like in your case.

Yay for you that you were there and took the time to ask if he was okay. ;)