Doing the right thing

Yesterday was a pretty interesting day for me. I was at the racetrack working on the safety team as I normally do, got to drive a session with a friends car, all in all a very pedestrian day, after the day was done, I went to dinner with a group of drivers, and while we were sitting talking, I saw a motorcycle go flying through the air. It all happened in slow motion to me, it caught my eye, because the bike was going end over end and it appeared just above my friends head. Me being a safety team member, and having worked with the police before, I have more training than most standard civilians to handle a situation like such. That said, I am not an EMT or anything like that. In any case, I saw the bike go down, and my first reaction (other than OH S**T) was to run and see if I can help. I was the first person on the scene, the bike had landed on his head. Another bystander helped lift the bike off the rider. The rider was out cold, but was breathing, so there wasn't much I could do, as I didn't have my go-kit. He came to, and started to struggle, me and a few other bystanders tried to keep him still and calm, as he was bleeding profusely from his face, and a chunk of his bicep was severed and laying in the grass. He started to insist he was fine and struggle with us, it was at this point I smelled the severe stench of alcohol coming off of his breath. The police showed up approximately 3 minutes after the accident, and the ambulance about 2 minutes after that. They handled the scene, and I went back to the restaurant and answered all the questions from the drivers. All of them were grateful for what I did, saying I did the right thing, and that they feel much safer on the track with me on the safety team, because of how I responded to the situation. However, when I got home, the only response I got was "why did you put yourself in danger, don't you get enough of a thrill from doing this at the track, you're not an EMT, what do you think you would have done if there was a serious problem"

I'm just a bit frustrated at the response from home, I don't expect to be regarded as a hero, but at least respect for what I did. Thanks for listening to my vent, comments and questions about the situation are welcome, I'm just trying to sort it all out and get it off my mind.

Dan

Yeah, you did the right thing. Although your wife (or your parents!) was right in wanting to keep you safe.

I think you did the right thing in going to help, though that dumba** who tried to jump a bike while drunk didn't deserve your help. I do think you are awesome for helping though, so good on you.

You have to remember that your parents are going to worry about you first.

You did the right thing. But your parents are going to worry about your that's their job.

Personally I would say you did the right thing, at the end of the day you may well have been the difference between the person surviving or not, regardless of the fact that it appeared they had been drinking. As for the reaction from home, I can fully understand the response, but they weren't there so were not aware of how the situation unfolded and it may well be that if they had been there they would have encouraged you to act the way you did because of your training. It is only natural for loved ones to want you to steer clear of putting yourself in what they consider a dangerous situation

Given time and a full understanding of the facts of the incident I would hope that they will come to realise you did what you did without harm to yourself and in the process saved a life or prevented a more serious injury to the unfortunate rider

Edit - it might sound harsh, but I have no sympathy for the rider if they had been drinking, and it is people like that who give us bikers a bad reputation

Well done! You did what was right check to see if their was anything you could do to help the idiot!

It's normal for you family to worry when it's something random like that!

My wife looked at me funny when I stopped on the side of the highway for a vehicle that rolled over. She asked what that was about I said "umm its what I do"!

All I can say is great work on your call to action buddy you did what you believe was the right thing and I'm very certain many people appreciate you for doing that. Don't let others get you down for helping in an emergency situation.

I agree with everybody here. You did the right thing. If there was no danger to yourself, you did the right thing.

Glad to hear these responses guys, I was never in danger, I had to cross a road that was empty when I crossed, and the bike and rider were in the grass, about 5 feet off of the edge of the road, so no immediate danger to me.

Dan

Good for you. Good people do the right thing.

Some people see something happen and the go toward the trouble to help. Some people see the same thing and stay put. Each group probably won't really understand the other. I'll chalk the comments up to your parents just being concerned parents. Completely understandable. That aside, I don't see any scenario in which we don't respond.

You did the right thing. There are too many people nowadays that can't take the time out of their busy lives to help someone else.

A few years ago I was driving in the DC area around rush hour. The freeway was packed but moving at 70 mph. Ahead of me the traffic slowed and a woman in a SUV rear ended a tractor trailer, bounced off into the guardrail and back into the side of the tractor trailer. I immediately pulled over onto the shoulder and ran across to try and help. It was just my instincts taking over because of my combat lifesaving training in the Army. Everyone else just went by as fast as they could except the ones right around the accident that had to stop. Once I found out she was OK, I went back to my truck and left the scene.

Looking back at it, I probably did more harm than good by adding another stopped vehicle, but sometimes you just react without thinking when someone else is in danger.

not saying you did the right thing or the wrong thing. but you have better be very very careful with stuff like that because if you do screw something up you'd be amazed at how quickly you can get sued over a multitude of things. hate to see you or anyone here get jammed up over trying to "do the right thing" i dunno what the laws are like where you live but everywhere is different.

#BuckLaw

Buckjob said:

not saying you did the right thing or the wrong thing. but you have better be very very careful with stuff like that because if you do screw something up you'd be amazed at how quickly you can get sued over a multitude of things. hate to see you or anyone here get jammed up over trying to "do the right thing" i dunno what the laws are like where you live but everywhere is different.

#BuckLaw

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The Law(good samaritan law) for bystanders helping someone out in an emergency covers them very well. Now if you a trained first responder(nurse,doctor) that happens to be off duty its a different world and can be sued for negligence amongst many other things.