In the blink of an eye

As I was driving home from work last night I noticed a man driving a motorcycle.  I thought to myself how he was doing everything right.  Helmet, jacket with reflective tape, long pants, closed toe shoes.  I also noted that he was wearing a backpack which had a large piece of orange fabric pinned to it since the backpack was covering the reflectors on his jacket.  I LOVE when I see motorcyclists doing everything right.  I've even drilled safety into my kids to such an extent that they point out when they see someone on a bike NOT wearing a helmet.  Anyway, we stopped at an intersection and after our light turned green and we passed through it I had to SLAM my breaks on hard.  I couldn't figure out why people were stopped...until the big suburban in front of me pulled to the side a little.  The first thing I saw was a motorcycle under a little white car.  Completely totaled.  The man was thrown about 50ish feet forward from where he was hit.  Having been First Aid and CPR certified for over 10 years I felt a duty to stop and, if nothing else, make sure there was someone present trained to help.  I quickly pulled into a parking lot and grabbed the baby and make my way to the scene.  I asked a couple questions and made sure there were no other dangers.  Fortunately everyone who stopped was smart enough NOT to try moving him even though he was conscious.  It appeared the person driving the white car was already on the line with 911 and I told him our location since he didn't know.  Since the man was able to talk another person was calling his emergency contact.  A few minutes later another woman walked up and said she was a first responder.  At this point I decided it was best to let her take over and to get Lily home.  The police responded within about 3 minutes and I could hear the firetruck and ambulance close behind.

I truly believe that all of the motorcycle drivers safety precautions saved his life.  He did everything right and had the right of way on the road.  The white car was making a left turn out of a shopping center and either didn't see him or thought he could be faster.  It's hard to say if the motorcycle hit the car or if the car hit the motorcycle.  Regardless, I can't imagine what went through the motorcyclist's head as he realized what was happening.

As I walked back up to the van a lady asked what happened.  I teared up as I explained the situation.  A also held Lily tight to me.  Life is so short and we don't always have any control over what happens.

Hold your loved ones a little tighter and tell them you love them every day.  I guarantee you will never look back and wish you hadn't.