Hey guys,
I wanted to share with you something that happened two nights ago...
I drove the silver NSX down from the bay area to San Diego Monday. I was heading southbound on Highway 163 towards my hotel so that I could check-in after the brutal drive. Ahead of me, I could see that a serious accident had occurred a few minutes prior. There was a severly smashed up car in the middle lane of the freeway, and a second vehicle perpendicular stuck in the greenery to the right side of the road. I immediately pulled over to the right side, crushing debris from the wreckage. I jumped out of the car, in a rush to get out that I neglected to even close my door. I ran to the girl standing next to the perpendicular SUV and asked if she was ok. She was on the phone with her mom. She was crying profusely as she struggled to get words out to the person on the phone. She managed to nod in response to my inquiry. I then asked if she had any passengers, and if everyone from the other car were safe. Before she had a chance to respond, piercing through the din of the building traffic was the voice of a man screaming "Help me! Help me! Please, somebody help me!" It was a spine-tingling plea from a very injured and frightened person. It was at that point that instinct kicked in. I knew that I had to do everything I could to help save this person's life. I looked over and made sure that the right lane was clear before I darted across the highway lanes to get to his car. He greeted me with the most heartfelt thanks, and kept calling me an angel as I ascertained the situation. He was a large Hispanic man, easily over 300 lbs. He told me the door was stuck, and he could not open it. Sure enough, both the front and rear doors were stuck. The rear was so crumpled that there was no way it could have been opened. I struggled with the front door for a good 10 seconds, pulling it with all my strength, until I could feel it give way and open. He was fully covered in his blood, from his neck down his arm to his knees. I got down to his level to grab his arm so that I could support him, in the meanwhile looking at oncoming traffic to watch out for any cars. Sure enough, as I grabbed his hand and was about to get underneath his arm, I could see the headlight beams of a car who was approaching way too fast on the middle lane. I literally felt like I could see my life passing before my eyes. I released him, and jumped back about 5 feet to give me some room between me and the car, and to get ready to run out of the way. The car came to a screeching halt a couple of feet from the wreck. After immediately composing myself, I ran back to him, and got him out of the car. I braced him until I could get him to the side of the road. From the brightness of the group of cars that had stopped, I could see my hands caked in blood. My suit and shirt also were stained in crimson red. I asked the approximately 8 onlookers if any of them had a cell phone (mine was still in the car a number of yards away) to call 911. Within 10 minutes, a CHP was weaving back and forth to slow and eventually stop all traffic.
After checking to see if the guy was ok, and making sure that he didn't have serious bleeding, I then realized the enormity of the situation, and that I might have done a stupid thing, having my own family to support. Should I have risked my life for that of a stranger? At that instance I heard him yelling help, I didn't think... I just reacted. There was no time to debate in my mind the pros and cons of the situation.
I've played these kinds of scenarios in my head about what I would do in life-threatening situations. It is interesting to finally know the answer.
I wanted to share with you something that happened two nights ago...
I drove the silver NSX down from the bay area to San Diego Monday. I was heading southbound on Highway 163 towards my hotel so that I could check-in after the brutal drive. Ahead of me, I could see that a serious accident had occurred a few minutes prior. There was a severly smashed up car in the middle lane of the freeway, and a second vehicle perpendicular stuck in the greenery to the right side of the road. I immediately pulled over to the right side, crushing debris from the wreckage. I jumped out of the car, in a rush to get out that I neglected to even close my door. I ran to the girl standing next to the perpendicular SUV and asked if she was ok. She was on the phone with her mom. She was crying profusely as she struggled to get words out to the person on the phone. She managed to nod in response to my inquiry. I then asked if she had any passengers, and if everyone from the other car were safe. Before she had a chance to respond, piercing through the din of the building traffic was the voice of a man screaming "Help me! Help me! Please, somebody help me!" It was a spine-tingling plea from a very injured and frightened person. It was at that point that instinct kicked in. I knew that I had to do everything I could to help save this person's life. I looked over and made sure that the right lane was clear before I darted across the highway lanes to get to his car. He greeted me with the most heartfelt thanks, and kept calling me an angel as I ascertained the situation. He was a large Hispanic man, easily over 300 lbs. He told me the door was stuck, and he could not open it. Sure enough, both the front and rear doors were stuck. The rear was so crumpled that there was no way it could have been opened. I struggled with the front door for a good 10 seconds, pulling it with all my strength, until I could feel it give way and open. He was fully covered in his blood, from his neck down his arm to his knees. I got down to his level to grab his arm so that I could support him, in the meanwhile looking at oncoming traffic to watch out for any cars. Sure enough, as I grabbed his hand and was about to get underneath his arm, I could see the headlight beams of a car who was approaching way too fast on the middle lane. I literally felt like I could see my life passing before my eyes. I released him, and jumped back about 5 feet to give me some room between me and the car, and to get ready to run out of the way. The car came to a screeching halt a couple of feet from the wreck. After immediately composing myself, I ran back to him, and got him out of the car. I braced him until I could get him to the side of the road. From the brightness of the group of cars that had stopped, I could see my hands caked in blood. My suit and shirt also were stained in crimson red. I asked the approximately 8 onlookers if any of them had a cell phone (mine was still in the car a number of yards away) to call 911. Within 10 minutes, a CHP was weaving back and forth to slow and eventually stop all traffic.
After checking to see if the guy was ok, and making sure that he didn't have serious bleeding, I then realized the enormity of the situation, and that I might have done a stupid thing, having my own family to support. Should I have risked my life for that of a stranger? At that instance I heard him yelling help, I didn't think... I just reacted. There was no time to debate in my mind the pros and cons of the situation.
I've played these kinds of scenarios in my head about what I would do in life-threatening situations. It is interesting to finally know the answer.
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