Three other Good
Samaritans also showed up – a Hispanic woman in her 30s, a Hispanic man in his
40s, and a young black man in his late 20s. They lifted the driver out of the
car, a woman about 40 years old, and she was unconscious. They set her down on
the grass. With cars whizzing by at 70mph, Jim checked under the car to see if
it was leaking gasoline, when suddenly someone said, “Oh, my God, she’s turning
blue, she’s turning blue.” And sure enough, the unconscious driver had stopped
breathing.
So, while the young black man did chest compressions, Jim performed
mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. He told me that his last CPR training was in
1979! He forgot to pinch her nose closed for the first few breaths, so the air
just came out her nose. But he and the other guy figured it out, and after a
minute or two, the woman’s stomach began rising & falling, and her color improved. Jim is
Catholic, and he noticed a crucifix on a chain around the woman’s neck, so he
grasped it and said a quick prayer.
All the while, the other helpful folks directed traffic to go around the
accident. A couple of minutes later, a state trooper got there, followed by a
health care worker who was apparently on her way home from a hospital, and then
an ambulance. The trooper told everyone to get out of there so they wouldn’t
get hit by a car.
Jim
said that it was about three minutes later that it hit him:
“Oh, damn. Coronavirus. Did I just get
exposed to it - or something worse?”
So here’s where it stands: The woman survived, thanks to Jim, she was released
from the hospital, and word is that she’s “remorseful and appreciative.” Jim
went to his doctor, and he didn’t test positive for coronavirus on the first
test. BUT – you never know what you’ll get from a total stranger by the side of
the road, and it takes a couple of months to find out if you got AIDS, herpes,
hepatitis...
When he told me about it, he said he was inspired by the other Good Samaritans,
the NJ State Police, the EMTs, the health care worker who stopped on her way
home, and “whoever that man was wearing a “Baton Rouge Fire Department’
t-shirt” (in New Jersey!). He said something that really struck me: “It was
like America jumped out of its cars to help that woman.” What he really wants
is to give back to ALL of those people, because their actions gave him hope,
which is in short supply these days.
I think Jim deserves some help. He doesn’t know if his act of kindness will end
with a permanent health problem. We all want someone like him around, and he
should know he’s appreciated. I’ve sent
him a couple hundred dollars, but he could use a lot more. Please help him if
you can.
