A group of strangers, gathered from a horrific accident on the outskirts of Edmonton, are struggling to feel great about the state of humanity after a collision left a motorcyclist alone and badly wounded in a ditch.
On Monday morning, shortly before 7 am, Mike Kemp was riding his motorcycle to work on Highway 44 at the overpass on Highway 16 when the collision occurred.
“I was a little too far to see what happened in the beginning. “All I could say was that something was happening, so I just slowed down,” Andrew Spring told CTV News Edmonton.
What Spring saw as he approached left the Westlock volunteer firefighter “absolutely horrible.”
“I saw Mike in the ditch, I saw the bike on the road… I immediately realized that was not a good sign,” Spring said.
“Mike lost his leg in the blow … It’s really hard to stop the bleeding from something like that.”
The other driver was not found.
Spring pulled a rattle strap from his truck to wrap Kemp’s thigh like a makeshift turnstile. He said the ambulance would arrive forever. Spring has some advanced first aid training, but said no education can fully prepare a person for it.
“You’re trying to make sure he knows he’s not alone, and you’re trying to make him as comfortable as possible and just keep an eye on him,” Spring said.
Joan Cox was also in the ditch, trying to slow Kemp’s bleeding.
“I do not want to think about what could happen. “I’m just glad we were all there at the right time,” Cox said.
Brandon Fenwick was also one of the first to help. He remembers seeing a truck with damage at the front end pull away and initially thought the driver had hit a deer.
“In the end, nothing matters to me but the fact that (Mike) is doing well. So I’m just glad that what I did helped him, “he said.
Fenwick has been on a motorcycle before.
“It’s much more dangerous (than a car). Give them space … It seems a lot of people don’t care, “he said.
RESPONSIBILITIES
A 21-year-old man from Spruce Grove has surrendered to the RCMP, Mounties reported on Wednesday. The driver was charged with dangerous work with a vehicle and did not stay on the scene after the injury.
He has been released and is due to appear in court in Stony Plain on June 29.
Mountis said the people who stopped helped save Kemp’s life.
All three are upset not only by the fleeing driver, but also by others who are said to have just traveled as if nothing had happened.
“There were a lot of vehicles that didn’t stop and drove right through the place. “There was a truck driver, a half-horn, who honked his horn because the ambulance wasn’t moving,” Cox said.
They could use more aid to slow traffic, Spring said. He is also not very happy with the lack of patience of the people who move around them.
“All the people who came on stage, they got stronger in a big way… For him, it’s a whole chain of survival, that if some of these things hadn’t worked out, we could have had a very different conversation,” he said.
‘I LEAVE MY FRIEND IN THE KANKA TO DIE’
Justin Hendrix met Kemp on the job site about 10 years ago.
“I didn’t like him right away because he had the toolbox I wanted,” he said with a smile, “but after about a week of hatred, we became best friends.”
As family and friends gather around the wounded man, Hendrix launches GoFundMe to help Kemp.
“Mike is probably one of the most honest and compassionate people you will ever meet,” he told Kemp, who has no children but loves his big dog with all his heart.
Kemp is still unconscious and in “very bad shape,” said an emotional Hendrix. He also can’t understand why someone left Kemp there.
“I’m hanging out. Help the man. Don’t leave him. I think it’s great that he gave up, but he shouldn’t have left at all. He left my friend in the ditch to die. Don’t do that,” Hendrix said.
Spring is also struggling to understand this decision, and he believes the incident should be a wake-up call for others.
“It is not my place to judge, but actions have consequences. I may not know all the facts, but someone made a mistake, someone caused an accident, and someone left the person who was injured dead. And I don’t think that should be good for anyone, “he said.
As for the people who stopped, Fenwick said a barbecue was planned when Kemp recovered. The victim’s father called Fenwick in person to thank him for helping his son.
The RCMP said Kemp was hospitalized in critical condition on Wednesday.
With files from Jessica Robb of CTV News from Edmonton
Add Comment