Well today was one of the worst days of my life. I am sick, work was difficult, and all I wanted to do all day was go home and check on my tomatoes. But when I was finally on my way home to serenity, there was a frantic man waving in the bike lane and pointing to something as if trying to flag down a car. As I got closer, I noticed he was pointing to a COLLAPSED AND MOTIONLESS WOMAN ON THE SIDEWALK. I watched as cars in front of me kept driving past. This was not good. Panic settled in and my mind began to blank. I did not want to stop because I did not actually know exactly where I was. Or exactly what to do. She deserved better. But nobody was stopping, so I did. I ran over to the man who ended up not speaking much English (not Spanish either, otherwise I might have been able to get by) and tried to figure out what happened while dialing 911. He was a very kind man, but almost no help at all due to the language barrier (luckily panic is a universal language so we were at least on the same page about that) and his being roughly 1,000 years old. Also he had no phone, but he did put on a yellow reflective safety vest from his backpack. Thank god for that.
As 911 rang, I spoke to the woman. “Hi, what is your name? Do you know what happened?” The woman- who also seemed to be roughly 1,000 years old- shared her name, that she fell, her neck and knee hurt, and it felt like there were ants biting her. 911 answered and I relayed the information while looking for ants on the woman. I didn’t see any. “Where are you?” the operator asked. Uh-oh. With no street signs in sight, I told them the street I was on, the street I was going to turn right on in a couple of miles, and various landmarks along the way which I hadn’t passed yet. They were annoyed. I put them on speaker phone and asked the old man what streets we were by in case he may be able to jump in with the name of the nearest cross street. He shook his head. She tsked. “Well, are you going north or south on the street?” The old man and I both shrugged at each other. Sigh. “I don’t know. All I know is…” and I just repeated the same things I already told them, throwing in a couple more landmarks for good measure. 911 told me they had to take another call and left me on the line. I guess even emergencies get put on hold.
Cars continued to pass by without stopping, and the old man clad in his safety vest was still waving and pointing desperately toward us. There is no way we looked like we had the situation under control. I turned my attention to the woman. Thank God she was breathing and there was no blood or bone strewn about. She seemed fairly coherent, was dressed decently, carrying a grocery bag and a purse- she appeared to have just stepped out to grab a few things from the grocery store when she fell. She was still talking about what she could remember, and I wondered if maybe the “ants” could be tingling from her limbs falling asleep…she just didn’t sound or look like she was tripping with hallucinatory ants.
911 came back on the line. “So the woman needs to say she wants help to be sent.” Well. You’re welcome for holding. “Yes- I want help, I want help,” the woman said softly. Normally I would encourage someone that quiet to repeat themselves loud and proud because their voice matters, but low self confidence really didn’t seem to be her most pressing issue at the moment, so I just relayed her response to the operators. Then, a cop car became visible up the road. The old man jumped into gear, turning his level of franticness up to 11, and successfully flagged down the law. “Oh a cop car is coming by- it looks like he’s going to stop…” I told the operator. “You see a cop?” she asked. “Yes!” Then there was a click as she hung up on me. Thank god the cop actually stopped.
The cop looked as tired as I felt without any of the adrenaline, but luckily seemed to know what to do. After asking the woman a few questions, he called for backup. Another cop car quickly arrived and they formed a crouching police huddle to discuss the situation and start talking to the woman. The way they gathered around her at full attention made it seem like she was their prostrate quarterback, refusing to be sidelined and determined to continue the rest of the game from the ground. Another random car pulled over and some bearded man walked up without saying anything. I told him the woman had fallen and he just nodded. He only wanted to speak to the cops, which I guess makes sense. So he interrupted the police and told them he had Narcan in his car and wanted to offer it in case it was needed. They said no, throwing him an irritated glance before turning back to their fearless leader on the ground, and he walked away looking put off.
Watching that attempted hero walk away, the old man who was first to the scene thanked me for stopping and shook his head while gesturing at the road, implying he couldn’t believe that so many other cars drove by. I nodded in agreement and thanked him for helping. Then he started walking away. Um. Can people just leave cops without being dismissed?! I asked the cops if it was okay for him to leave and they said yes. Then I asked if it was okay for me to leave and they said yes. Relief washed over me and I clapped, then remembered the gravity of the situation and apologized, thanked them, and quickly walked back to my car. I climbed in at the same time that a fire truck pulled onto the scene and thanked God that professionals were finally in charge of the situation. Hopefully the woman was about to get all the help she needed.
Since then I have tried to wind down and favorited a couple compass necklaces on Etsy. My thinking is that in the event that I ever have to call 911 again and don’t know the nearest cross streets, and my brain has blanked with panic, I can at least tell the operator which direction I’m headed. Tomato update: honestly, I barely looked at them. All are in better condition than the woman on the side of the road. Each plant is standing upright with a poise that suggests royalty. They also show no sign of ants. I’m finding it difficult to shift my focus…I really hope the woman is doing better after receiving medical care.