First Responder

Hubby called home with a very interesting story yesterday.  He was driving back to the truck terminal after finishing his route.  He noticed a car on fire on the side of the highway.  He pulled his truck over in front of the car and ran to see what happened.  He was the first person there.

He saw a young man climbing out of the window of the upside-down car.  "What happened?" he immediately asked.  The man was bleeding but seemed well.  He said he lost control of the car and hit the guardrail.  It flipped the car over and the car caught fire.  Hubby realized that he'd better pull the man away from the burning vehicle.  The man exclaimed that his ankle was hurt so Hubby hoisted the man up (said he was much too large to carry) and assisted him further away from the highway.  Within twenty seconds, the car exploded!  I said that Hubby saved his life but, like any regular hero, he said he didn't do anything.  He said the man saved himself.  But if Hubby hadn't pulled him away, he likely could have been killed by the explosion.

At that point, Hubby realized he didn't have his phone and sure would have liked a photo of the scene.  There was a burning car between him and his truck and there was no way he was getting to it.  He said other people began pouring in and called 911.  The crying man mentioned the pain in his ankle again so Hubby, the FedEx guy, decided to examine it.  He declared it to be broken and told the guy he was going to tie up his shoe to give it some support. 

After approximately twenty minutes, the police finally arrived.  Here's the kicker to the story:  the cop approached the scene carrying a citation in his hand.  "I'm gonna need to see your license," he said in a very rough, demeaning manner.  Hubby was appalled!  He didn't ask if the man was OK, if he needed help, or what happened.  He immediately assumed the man didn't have a license and was going to cite him.  The driver simply replied, "Um, it's on fire."  I thought that was a great response!  Then the cop looked at Hubby and said, "You gotta get that truck out of here!"  He didn't ask his name or thank him for helping.  Hubby obeyed, hustled to his truck, and drove away. 

I thought it was such an odd way to handle an accident.  I'm sure this kind of stuff is routine for police officers, but it's certainly not routine for the citizens involved.  Just like a surgeon performs the same procedure over and over, he still reassures the patient that everything will be fine and explains the surgery in great detail.  This cop had no "bedside manner" at all.  I encouraged Hubby to call that police department and complain about the first officer on scene.  He refused.

Even though he'll get no public recognition, no awards, no newspaper photo, he's still my Handsome Hero Husband.  He's got a pretty cute, little fan club around here!