Exhausted Cop Falls Asleep at Wheel & Wrecks Car, Hero Stops Him From Bleeding Out & Saves Life
Famed science-fiction author Ray Bradbury never learned to drive a car and did everything he could to avoid riding in one. Why? As a teen, he witnessed a horrible accident that forever put him off automobiles.
One imagines that it must’ve been a crash not unlike that which nearly killed 39-year-old Carlos Basurto. The San Mateo police officer was driving home on June 14 when he began to drowse at the wheel.
The inattention only lasted a moment, but a moment was all it took. Basurto awoke as he approached the Highway 205 and Interstate 5 interchange and swerved to avoid hitting a car in front of him.
That evasive maneuver caused his car to flip — and it severely injured the officer.
When the proverbial smoke cleared, Basurto realized that a major artery in his arm had been damaged and was gushing blood.
For most people, that would’ve been the end. But a Good Samaritan appeared beside the wreck of Basurto’s vehicle, an individual who still hasn’t been identified, and the officer knew what he had to do.
“First responders found him with the tourniquet on his arm,’’ his brother, Alfy Basurto, told KTVU. “They said it saved his life.”
“When Carlos came to in the hospital, the burning question was who put that tourniquet on?” It turned out that Basurto himself had instructed the man on how to make one.
The veteran officer isn’t out of the woods yet. Doctors had to perform four major surgeries on him, and he’ll require even more minor procedures in order to resume normal functioning.
Still, his family hasn’t lost hope. “Carlos is one of the sweetest souls you will ever meet,” Alfy wrote on his Facebook page.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that Carlos will recover from this and will defy all of the odds. He already has.”
The Basurtos also have more good news than merely knowing Carlos is still among the land of the living.
A GoFundMe campaign has raised $60,580 toward his medical bills as of Thursday morning.
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