Positivity: Local Sailor applies tourniquet, saves man’s life
A story from San Diego carried in the Navy Compass:
Friday, September 28, 2007
Aviation Mechanic 1st Class (AW) Juan Arredondoponce (Ponce) considers himself a good Sailor. He enjoys serving his country by being in the Navy and has done so for seven years. He finds a special kind of joy in being able to help others but a hero isn’t how he describes himself.
His peers and family don’t agree with him.
July 23 started to be a normal day for Ponce. He woke up. The weather was nice, and he spent quality time with his wife in the Los Angeles area before heading back south to San Diego to prepare for work.
Aside from carrying on with his normal weekend routine, it was Ponce’s birthday. He turned 30, but he had no idea that he would remember July 23, 2007 for more than just turning a year older.
As he made his way back to San Diego on Interstate 5-South, he took in the scene moved through traffic, and then came to a car accident that he decided to stop for just a few miles north of the Del Mar race track exit.
“I saw a vehicle upside down and on the left shoulder. The lights were off and no cars in the area stopped. I figured it had just happened,” said Ponce.
“Because I didn’t see anyone outside the car waiting for help, I decided to stop. They could have been trapped inside. And the moment I saw the car, it was too late for me to hit the brakes and stop. So, I went up to the next exit and came back north. By the time I got back, there were two or three cars stopped behind that one.”
Ponce was caught off guard from what he saw. He said the cabin of the vehicle was crushed and the man was on the ground and one of his arms was almost severed.
“He was wobbling and trying to get up. His arm was hanging by a little bit of muscle and skin. You could see how fast the blood was gushing out,” he said.
A frantic Ponce turned in circles, grabbed two fists full of hair and said,” What do I do? What do I do?”
Not waiting for a response, he approached the man.
“People gathered around and just looked at the man. When I started walking towards him, someone shouted to me not to touch him. I said that I am in the military and I have some training for things like this.”
The training that Ponce referred to was what he learned during basic training, a mass casualty drill, and receiving his air warfare designation.
“I knew I had to stop the blood, but it took me a couple of seconds to think of that,” said Ponce. “I didn’t have time to find a shoelace or something else to use for a tourniquet. So I grabbed on to his stub and clamped on with both my hands.
“After that, I yelled out to someone to get me something that I can use for a tourniquet. The people standing around looked at me as I didn’t know what I was talking about. It never dawned on me that some people don’t know what that is,” he said.
Keeping track of the time is one of the most-valuable steps to applying a tourniquet. Unfortunately, Ponce wasn’t wearing a watch.
“But even if I did, I would not have had time to look at it. I had already applied the tourniquet. You’re also supposed to stamp the time that you applied the tourniquet on the victim’s forehead with the victim’s blood.
“His CD player was still playing songs so I just counted the songs that played. Then I estimated that four and a half songs played at an average of three to four minutes. I came up with roughly 15 to 20 minutes passing when I applied the tourniquet,” Ponce said.
What felt like eternity to Ponce was only 20 minutes of hearing music playing and then the paramedics arrived.
Ponce was able to gather the man’s basic information: name, age and medical allergies, and give it to the paramedics.
“At first, he would not talk when I asked him a question. He looked Hispanic to me, but I never thought of speaking Spanish first,” said Ponce. “When I did speak Spanish, he responded and talked of his family-his wife and kids and how he would not be able to provide for them without his arm.”
After talking with police officers on scene and the paramedics, Ponce said they thanked him for what he did and said that he saved the man’s life. Ponce asked if he could get some more information about the man, and the accident and they told him “probably not.”
So he wiped as much blood off of his body as possible. He was wearing converse, blue jeans and a black t-shirt.
Ponce drove home that night with the man on his mind. He took a long shower and went to bed, but couldn’t sleep. He even got up to check the internet for more information about the man and the accident, but only found a log from the California Highway Patrol noting that there was an accident.
“I told a friend about what happened a few days later,” said Ponce. “He thought it was interesting and a week after that, he called and asked if his name was Noe Garcia.”
“I told him yes, and asked how did he know,” he said.
The friend said the story came out in the newspaper.
Ponce’s friend is a sports fan and he read an article in a local paper with similarities of the story that Ponce told him.
“I bought the newspaper and found the story. It didn’t mention me. It only mentioned the groomer of a popular race horse, Lava Man. It also gave a Web site for a fundraiser, and I went to it and I saw his picture. I knew definitely it was him,” Ponce said.
“My dad told me later that the horse-racing community is small. And later I found out that a relative of mine is a groomer at the San Anita race track and knows the man that I helped.
“Two weeks after the accident, a fundraiser was held to raise money for a prosthetic arm for Noe. And I knew that I was going to go,” said Ponce.
But prior to the fundraiser, Ponce received a phone call from one of Lava Man’s owners.
“I’m not sure how he got my contact, but he called and he asked if I was the one that saved his life, and he told me more details about the fundraiser and gave me an official invite,” said Ponce.
Ponce went to the fundraiser where he met Garcia, his family, Lava Man’s owner and some famous jockeys.
Ponce said when he approached Garcia and told him that he was happy that he survived, Garcia thanked him.
“I never told him that I was the one there the day of the accident. And I think that he thought I was just a well-wisher. Later on, Noe and I stood together and several people clapped and cheered for his recovery and me saving his life,” said Ponce.
According to Ponce, he was told that when Garcia arrived at the hospital, he was blind and cold, and he lost four pints of blood.
A few days after the fundraiser, Lava Man raced at the Del Mar racetrack and Ponce went. At the finish line was when Garcia asked if Ponce was the man that saved his life.
Ponce said, “You could say that.”
“He didn’t remember me,” said Ponce. “He (Garcia) said he only remembers a few things like trying to bless himself and a few other things.”
After the race, Garcia’s son said thank you to Ponce. Ponce said the boy’s thank you was the greatest feeling. …..
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