The Heros Among Us
We give them little thought, but they exist, heroes among us ordinary people. Those for whom extraordinary events and their proximity to those events, bring out character, determination and a willingness to become involved. And invariably these distinct individuals who rise to the occasion are modest, claiming to be just like you and me. We wish.
We inhabit a busy world with constant distractions and even more distinctly imperative demands upon us. So that when we're exposed to situations visiting disaster upon others we're not that inclined to respond, particularly when to do so would expose ourselves to danger at the same time. We have a tendency to stand around helplessly, nodding our heads, twisting our hands compulsively, inadequately.
Yet there are outstanding individuals who, when confronted by the frantic need of others will respond, courageously, without thought of the dangers they expose themselves to. They will exhibit the kind of determination that, if incapable of moving mountains by sheer will, does prove capable of moving tons of dead weight to ensure the potential of living to see another day on behalf of a total stranger in obvious need of rescue.
And so it was with a 37-year-old Ottawa man, an off-duty OC Transpo driver who made of himself a hero. Certainly not by design, but most certainly purposefully and with full intent to assist where no one else was coming to the fore, and in so doing proving his mettle. Gord Kritsch, on his way home, heard a loud commotion close by, persuading him to canter off to the nearby downtown corner of Somerset and Lyon Streets.
Where, a scant few moments earlier, bicyclist Peter Marcotte was run over by a motorist driving a vehicle which veered to make a sudden turn into his lane. Mr. Marcotte's frantic attempt to save himself by braking resulted in his being thrown directly into the car's trajectory. The front wheels of the car ran over him, and pinned him under the car.
The trauma of immediate pain had him pass out, and when he came to slightly, he was aware that the undercarriage of the vehicle was burning him horribly.
Mr. Kritsch, who had entered the scene at this point heard the moans of pain and the victim repeating "It's burning me, I'm burning". At which point he called out to anyone nearby: "Lift the car, we have to lift the car". And so they did; Mr. Kritsch and perhaps two other men lifted a Nissan which had pinned the suffering Mr. Marcotte, shifting it sufficiently to clear the man.
"When we got him out, he was just covered in blood and dirt and grease", recalled Mr. Kritsch. "I'm not a paramedic and I'm not used to seeing things like that and to see someone in such obvious pain, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since." Multiple fractures to all Mr. Marcotte's ribs, a broken collarbone and burns from the undercarriage of the car will keep him in hospital for a while yet.
This hero's instant response, his having taken charge of the scene resulted in saving a man's life. Now he lives through the trauma of having witnessed someone in extreme pain as the critical aftermath of a serious accident. Flashbacks of how that will have affected his psyche will trouble him in days to come.
In the physical response so aided by adrenalin that the actual lifting of the car seemed to be no more physically burdensome that lifting a small table, reality has reared its implacable head, leaving Mr. Kritsch with a back sufficiently injured to require time off work.
There's a cost to be borne for every action one undertakes in life. For this man the cost was never on his mental horizon, only the urge to see if he could "help" someone.
We inhabit a busy world with constant distractions and even more distinctly imperative demands upon us. So that when we're exposed to situations visiting disaster upon others we're not that inclined to respond, particularly when to do so would expose ourselves to danger at the same time. We have a tendency to stand around helplessly, nodding our heads, twisting our hands compulsively, inadequately.
Yet there are outstanding individuals who, when confronted by the frantic need of others will respond, courageously, without thought of the dangers they expose themselves to. They will exhibit the kind of determination that, if incapable of moving mountains by sheer will, does prove capable of moving tons of dead weight to ensure the potential of living to see another day on behalf of a total stranger in obvious need of rescue.
And so it was with a 37-year-old Ottawa man, an off-duty OC Transpo driver who made of himself a hero. Certainly not by design, but most certainly purposefully and with full intent to assist where no one else was coming to the fore, and in so doing proving his mettle. Gord Kritsch, on his way home, heard a loud commotion close by, persuading him to canter off to the nearby downtown corner of Somerset and Lyon Streets.
Where, a scant few moments earlier, bicyclist Peter Marcotte was run over by a motorist driving a vehicle which veered to make a sudden turn into his lane. Mr. Marcotte's frantic attempt to save himself by braking resulted in his being thrown directly into the car's trajectory. The front wheels of the car ran over him, and pinned him under the car.
The trauma of immediate pain had him pass out, and when he came to slightly, he was aware that the undercarriage of the vehicle was burning him horribly.
Mr. Kritsch, who had entered the scene at this point heard the moans of pain and the victim repeating "It's burning me, I'm burning". At which point he called out to anyone nearby: "Lift the car, we have to lift the car". And so they did; Mr. Kritsch and perhaps two other men lifted a Nissan which had pinned the suffering Mr. Marcotte, shifting it sufficiently to clear the man.
"When we got him out, he was just covered in blood and dirt and grease", recalled Mr. Kritsch. "I'm not a paramedic and I'm not used to seeing things like that and to see someone in such obvious pain, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since." Multiple fractures to all Mr. Marcotte's ribs, a broken collarbone and burns from the undercarriage of the car will keep him in hospital for a while yet.
This hero's instant response, his having taken charge of the scene resulted in saving a man's life. Now he lives through the trauma of having witnessed someone in extreme pain as the critical aftermath of a serious accident. Flashbacks of how that will have affected his psyche will trouble him in days to come.
In the physical response so aided by adrenalin that the actual lifting of the car seemed to be no more physically burdensome that lifting a small table, reality has reared its implacable head, leaving Mr. Kritsch with a back sufficiently injured to require time off work.
There's a cost to be borne for every action one undertakes in life. For this man the cost was never on his mental horizon, only the urge to see if he could "help" someone.
posted by Pieface @ 1:02 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home