I saw a man die yesterday. It wasn't the first time I saw a life end. Many years ago when I was a new police officer I watched a young man die after he crashed his car into a guard rail on a two lane highway late at night. He was alive when I first arrived on the scene and as I administered first aid to him while he was still trapped in the car. The ambulance and rescue personnel arrived after what seemed forever but in reality was probably just a few minutes. We all worked together and were able to extract the young man from his car and place him on a backboard and stretcher. As we were wheeling him to the waiting ambulance, I saw life leave him. His face and skin turned an ashen pale and I knew he was dead when we put him in the ambulance. It was one of those moments when you realize life is truly fragile.
Yesterday, it happened again. This time it wasn't my job requiring me to respond to such circumstances. Yesterday I was just going about four blocks to the grocery store to get dinner. We had just had a brief downpour but the rain was ending. I stopped at the stop sign and checked the oncoming traffic from the left. I saw the motorcycle and remember thinking "gee I hope he is careful on the wet pavement." I looked again to my right and then back again to my left just in time to see the car pull out from another side street right in front of the motorcycle. The motorcycle hit the front of the car and it and its rider went flying over the hood and tumbled onto the pavement less than half a block from me. Prior training kicked in while I quickly turned and blocked the oncoming traffic and dialed 911. The motorcyclist was on his back in the middle of the highway with the bike and his shoes a few feet away. He had his helmet on but his feet were bare as the force of the collision literally knocked him out of his shoes. He was alive and I heard him moan and saw him move his legs. The driver of the car that struck him and another motorist who had stopped were talking to him and telling him help was on the way. A couple off duty paramedics stopped and began rendering aid. The police arrived and the situation was well in hand.
As I was assisting with the traffic I turned and saw the off duty paramedics start cardiac compressions on the victim. He had stopped breathing and had no pulse. After a couple minutes, probably about 4-5, the ambulance arrived. I overheard the off duty paramedics tell the ambulance personnel there was no pulse or respiration. The outlook was not good.
The investigating officer had her clipboard out and was taking down everyone's information. She took my name, address and telephone number and told me I could leave. I had told her I witnessed the crash so I was rather surprised she didn't take a statement from me. Evidently she saw the somewhat questioning look on my face and said "its ok, I got this." Hmm, I guess that was my clue to leave. A man was still in the middle of the road and dying but it was ok, I wasn't needed.
I got in my truck, called my wife and told her what happened. Like the wonderful woman she is she offered to come meet me or suggested I come home. She is like the mother hen who wants all her chicks home when the storm comes. All she could say was she was so sorry it happened.
Instead I went ahead to the store and got the stuff for dinner, etc. The entire time my thoughts were on the wreck and the likely loss of life. Last night I kept checking the local news pages for any updates and finally found an article about the now fatal motorcycle accident.
As I said before, this wasn't my first experience with a fatal wreck. Over a 20 year career in police work I have been involved in many similar instances. So, what makes me want to write about this time? What makes it different? This morning I checked for updates on the accident and I was shocked and disgusted at some of the readers comments posted.
One poster said "This kind of thing is all to common and the chances are it was intentional. I wonder if the driver of the Ford used the usual excuse, "I was blinded by his head light and didn't see the motorcycle coming". For some reason there are a good number of drivers who look for motorcyclists to wreck and either intend to kill or injure the rider."
Another posted "I HEARD IT ON THE SCANNER--THEY CALLED FOR A TRANSLATOR--SO YOU KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY."
And another "Let's see...the entrance or exit to the Retirement Community. I bet it was one of those folks who should not be driving because of their pride."
more "And yes, cars will try to run a bike off the road for some reason. Don't know why, but it happens."
I was there. I saw what happened. There were no interpreters needed. There were no senior citizens involved, no one was aiming for the motorcycle. The driver of the car simply made a mistake. It cost a life and I am sure the woman driving the car wishes she had taken an extra look. It is something she will have to live with all her life. It is something that I will live with too. I will never forget the first time I saw someone die and I won't forget this time. I don't even know the man's name yet.
What I want to know is when did humanity begin to take death so lightly? Have we become so jaded everything is a political statement? Blame it on the immigrants, blame it on the old folks, blame it on crazy people who just want to hurt someone. Is that what we want? Are we that desperate to make a point? Sometimes it just makes me sick.