The Week I Saved A Life

It's been a very busy week to say the least. It's had it's ups and downs without a doubt.

Sunday started off with my first call of the day. We were so busy straight out of the gate that I had to start to the other Sector in my zone and handle what we call a demented person call. I went to a group home for people with mental illness and responded to a 44 year old woman who was hearing voices and seeing people come out of the wall threatening to rape her. When I got the call it was 45 minutes old due to shift change. Surely the ambulance would have arrived to transport her by the time I got there. I was wrong.

I know I had an excuse for being late to the call, but I was shocked the ambulance hadn't arrived. I called to get an estimate on their arrival, only to be told they didn't have one. I waited another 15 minutes (an hour after the call arrived) and finally the lady was taken to the hospital. Thankfully the lady was calm and not violent. It was just amazing talking to her and she was staring at the wall really "seeing" these people.

Monday and Tuesday were spent dealing with disorderly kids. On Monday a mother called because her 12 and 15 year old were fighting her and being disrespectful. I asked the kids (whose body language clearly stated they could have cared less wanting to talk to me) about why they were upset. They both answered because they had eaten noodles for three nights in a row. I had to hide my own chuckle as due to the hectic week, I myself had eaten ramen noodles after work for a couple nights in a row and had every intention of doing so when I got off work after the gym. Such a trivial reason when their mother was working two jobs (one of which for the court system in the county I worked in) just to put food on the table. Times are tough and this mother actually cared. Meanwhile the 12 and 15 year olds talked about running away together. Just how were they planning on feeding themselves more than noodles on their own was a question that could not be answered.

Tuesday's kid was a different story. This kid was 16 years old and on probation. Mom tried to get him to go see his probation officer but he refused and in return broke the coffee table in the living room (which actually looked like it had been nice prior to being in pieces when I got there). I didn't ask why the kid was on probation but asked him when he turned 17 (the age of adulthood in my state) and he told me in a few weeks (which coincidentally was the day before my own birthday). I told him that his juvenile record was about to be put behind him when he turned 17 and there was no reason to add to it. I asked him if he knew what would happen if he refused to see his probation officer and explained to him just how good he had it at home with mom's rules versus being in a state camp or juvenile prison. I asked him what he wanted to do in life and he told me go to college. I was stunned. I always ask kids on the street what they want to do and NONE have ever said go to college. This kid had a good head on his shoulder and told me after college he wanted to be an artist. Immediately mom went and grabbed some artwork of his and started bragging to me. This guy had talent.  I spoke to him about possible career paths as an artist and even gave the kid my work cell number so he could talk to me at any time. I really would love to see this kid succeed and really hope he gives me a call and stays on the right path.

Wednesday was a decent day which ended really busy as we had a pizza place robbed and then a car chase involving a stolen car with four juveniles inside (it's always the juveniles). Prior to the car chase taking place, I had a damage to property call from a guy who ran into some accident debris with his expensive car as he was getting off the interstate. All that was wrong with this car was his front tire was flat and his hubcap was cracked. This guy called his roadside assistance to come get the car and then called a ride from a friend and just LEFT his car in this rough part of town. This guy knew full well where he was and I just completely shook my head at that. Some people just don't get it and set themselves up to be a victim.

Finally, the moment that defined the week. Thursday  (my Friday) just getting finished with roll call when we get a person shot call at an intersection. We've had numerous fake person shot calls at this intersection and I know some of us treated this as another prank. However, the first officer on scene finds a male shot in the upper leg near his groin and also finds the man ditching about 7 grams of weed individually packaged for sale. The male was placed under arrest which meant an officer needed to accompany him to the hospital. I volunteered and met him at the Trauma section of our major hospital downtown. The man was perfectly stable and we were actually joking about the super bowl since he was from the same home city as I was and our sports team was playing in the big game. All of a sudden the male told me his leg hurt really bad, even more so than when he got shot. I went to the nurses station to grab some help but the nurse told me that was normal and she'd be over in a few minutes. I returned to the room and noticed the male was sweating as if he had just finished a marathon. His monitor which displayed his vitals showed his blood pressure at about 80/30 and his heart rate was at about 60 and dropped suddenly to 30. I immediately stepped back out and tried to flag someone down who once again told me they would be there in a few minutes. I told them NO, he needs help now and a nurse came by. The nurse quickly grabbed the trauma team who worked on the man for about two minutes as the doctor running down the hallway yelled "How come nobody told me my patient was crashing!"

The staff managed to get him stable again and they all came out giving me high fives and thanking me. One of the staff told me the man wanted to talk to me and I went in. Up until this point I was fine. The man quickly said: "Officer, I just really want to thank you for saving my life".

At that moment, I began to tear up and the emotion started to get to me. I did my best to hide the watering eyes and then ducked into a nearby bathroom to collect myself and dry my eyes.

I will NEVER forget that moment as long as I live.

The staff told me I got them just in time for them to re-stabilize him. The man later found out his girlfriend was pregnant. The man was upset but happy at the same time as he had a baby momma, a girlfriend, and a fiance. But to each their own. Before I transferred him into the custody of the correctional staff at the hospital, I told him I was really glad he made it. I also joked around that I hoped he got bond in time to watch the big game on Sunday.

Here is where I'll say how he got shot. The man stated he went to a barber shot to buy some weed and witnessed another guy try to rob a 15 year old for a $100 belt. The man stepped in and defended the male and wound up getting shot. Just because the man is a drug dealer does not make him a bad person. He chose to put his life up for someone else. It just goes to show you can never judge a person on a first glance and a life has tremendous value. Even a drug dealer's.