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Watched a Man Die Yesterday

Joined
Mar 1, 2003
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Early Sunday morning I was at the Pineywoods Biker Blowout in Canton when a man fell at my feet. He was bleeding profusely from a large cut across the right side of his neck.

I knelt at this man's head and held it to maintain his airway so he could breath. His carotid artery was severed. I am a licensed CPR and First Aid instructor. I knew from the amount of blood loss that he would not survive. After a couple of minutes, blood stopped exiting the wound, he stopped breathing, and he died.

I left the scene and found a water hose and washed off as best I could.

I am trying to find out who this man was. I know who murdered him, but I can't find out the victim's name.

I still have this man's blood dried in my watch and in my boots. The incident was very upsetting to me.

I couldn't sleep because my pants were soaked with blood and it stunk like crawfish in my tent. I eventually had to get up and go to a laundromat at about 3:00am and wash my clothes.

On the ride home yesterday I couldn't stop thinking about how little respect people give edged weapons. In my martial arts training I've been taught some really, really stupid knife defenses over the years. I actually began to get very mad about how confident and carelessly I've seen some instructors teach knife defense.

A guy younger than me did not see the sun rise this morning like I did. He never will.

No more biker rallies for me. I was at that rally because all my friends here in Lufkin were all going. They are not redneck *******s. Earlier in the day Saturday I'd started getting disgusted with the level of red-neck-ness at the rally. Watching those 50-year old women waddling around in their black leather dressed-up like Marlin Brando was getting tiresome.

The murder did it for me. Screw those redneck *******s. I like to have a beer and listen to bands as much as the next guy. I used to enjoy the reversal ritual of "letting your hair down" at biker rallies a couple of times per year.

But this is just too much.

I am really, really mad about the whole situation.
 
That's AWFUL! :( What kind of a rally was this and where? I thought crap like that only happened in the movies or at ****'s Angels rallys years ago...
 
:tab Sorry to hear about this John. It must be an exceptionally sobering event. If the guy was murdered as you say, I am sure the police will want to talk with you unless they already have a ton of witnesses. I'm sure they can tell you the name of the victim.

:tab We all have such a tenuous grasp on life as it is. I don't think many people appreciate the fragility and briefness of it all. It is a real shame. I bet that guy died for something really stupid. He probably just offended another guy's ego. Sad.

:tab This is part of my problem with the whole biker bad boy pretend scene. Some people seem to forget it is pretend and they really think they are the bad boys. They think they have to be tough and talk trash. It may sell lots of cruisers for the manufacturers, but I would not want my product associated with this kind of attitude.

:tab Anyway, I hope this doesn't freak you too bad. Things like this can really hit you in ways you'd never expect. Take care.
 
Oh, MAN, John, that must be tough.

Did they at least arrest the Bad Guy? What the heck were the circumstances???
 
Thank you for your kind words. It feels kinda like after you get a tooth pulled at the dentist. I keep probing it and thinking about it and trying to get used to it.

When you are face-to-face with a man and actually feel him die with your hands, it IS a big 'ol reality check. Tonight my kids are more lovable and the flowers in my yard are more beautiful than ever before.

I apologize for not being more clear. This murder was a public event. There were 700 people standing around when it happened.

Basically, a "security guard", whose filthy name I will not repeat, got in an argument with a guy in front of the bandstand. They guy punched the security guard in the nose. The security guard responded by punching the guy in the neck with a knife.

The guard was arrested and is in jail now awaiting arraignment. He has a history of violence and aggression. Last year he was expelled from the Southern Cruisers (a family riding club) because he got drunk and pulled a gun on a group of people at a rally in Glenrose. I hope the company who put on the rally gets sued for all they're worth and then some.

I just happened to be the unlucky soul who was closest when the guy hit the ground. I got a nice email from an off-duty paramedic lady who was helping me. She was using her fingers to try and pinch the artery closed. She said she also knew immediately it was a hopeless situation.

He was cut from his left clavical across to under his right ear. The carotid artery was severed. He was unconcious within 10 seconds. He went into shock immediatly from blood loss. Within a minute or so he stopped breathing and his heart stopped.

An open carotid is not survivable outside a hospital setting.
 
Wow, John, I can't imagine going through something like that. Hope you're not too shellshocked.

John Bennett said:
Basically, a "security guard", whose filthy name I will not repeat, got in an argument with a guy in front of the bandstand. They guy punched the security guard in the nose. The security guard responded by punching the guy in the neck with a knife.

The guard was arrested and is in jail now awaiting arraignment. He has a history of violence and aggression. Last year he was expelled from the Southern Cruisers (a family riding club) because he got drunk and pulled a gun on a group of people at a rally in Glenrose. I hope the company who put on the rally gets sued for all they're worth and then some.

Ahh, I was wondering if there was alcohol involved.
 
Sorry to hear about your weekend. It's funny that I can't find anything in the papers or news that mentions this. Just goes to show how society as a whole have come to accept this type of thing as ordinary.

I can't say I have much advice for someone not in the LE community on how to handle something like this. At least in my circle of LE friends we have what is commonly called "gallows humor". Sometimes I'll make a light remark or a joke about a situation such as this and my non-LE friends will look at me like I'm some kind of sicko. It's not that, it's just a coping mechanism. After you see this type of thing over and over you start to lose a lot of emotion and generally have no regard for anyone except family and close friends.

I would suggest you talk to someone --- anyone--about this. Maybe a preacher or a close friend. They may not have any answers but it'll help to get it off your chest. Don't bottle it up because it will come back to haunt you.

And I know what you mean about the smell, although it never smelled like crawfish to me. You can never put your finger on exactly what it reminds you of but you can always smell it. And it's always triggered by the weirdest stuff.

One thing good about the whole experience is you realize just how precious life is. You really appreciate the simple things in life and you don't take things for granted.

Take care.
 
This post reminds me of the time I was fifteen...yes it was long ago. I still remember the day. It was a Sunday afternoon. Me and my dad were getting gas in his van, and I am standing at the end of the pump area. This spanish guy is standing next to me, and all the sudden a car pulls up and BAM! I didn't even have time to blink little-on duct. The spanish guy falls to his knees w/ a little hole about 8 inches below his neck, on his chest. I remeber the look on his face. It is not like you see in the movies, but a look of astonishment. It seemed like he looked at me for an hour; it was like 20 seconds, but when he fell over he had a hole in his back about 10" dia. The smell was overwelming. I almost got sick, but I don't know if I was too scared or too sad. Of course me dad freaked...who wouldn't. I was 2' from this guy when he got shot. Ahhh the joys of growing up in the big city. I just thought I would share. I also want to say... go talk to somebody about it. I talked to my preacher about this and he shed some direction & answers on the matter.
John
01' SV650S
 
John,

I am really sorry to hear about this. I have had a similar experience when a guy died while two of us tried to recessitate him. But he had a heart attack while we were playing basketball so I can only imagine how much more devisitating this must be (I know I was pretty much a waste for a couple of days after). All I can say is that I found it real good to talk about it with a couple of friends and just try and come to terms with the whole thing. I hope all works out for you.

Take care
 
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