A Shocking Experience

Since the internet in my central KL hotel was not functioning at all (at least I could not get online), I checked out early to head over to the hotel near the main conference. While driving there a motor cyclist in the left lane went tumbling over and over on his bike and landed face down, with his head at a frightening angle in a pool of blood. I screamed at the driver to pull over and ran out to stop traffic and see what could be done. The victim was a young Chinese man. He was face down in a growing pool of blood, with his shattered helmet (which almost certainly saved his life, if he does survive) in pieces around him. Other car and motorcycle drivers started to stop and come over. None had seen the cause of the accident, whether a car had clipped him or something else, but one motorcyclist called an ambulance and another started directing traffic to avoid “rubber necking” that would slow down the ambulance. Two who stopped managed to gently get the man’s mouth and nose out of the pool of blood so he would not drown (we were all terrified of harming him) and after a while he started to regain consciousness. As I had my luggage in the trunk, I managed to get some of my shirts out to cover him to avoid problems from shock. I asked if someone there could speak to him in Malay or Chinese, and a Chinese motorist started to speak gently to him in Chinese to keep him calm. I managed to get the attention of a police car that was racing with sirens in the other direction on the freeway, and it seems that they called the accident in, as shortly after two motorcycle officers appeared. The officers said they would care for him until the ambulance arrived, so the taxi driver suggested we clear the road and go on to my hotel. I left my name and mobile phone number with the police. I hope and pray that the poor man survives and that he doesn’t suffer any permanent injuries. Seeing so much thick blood bubbling out of his mouth was a terrible sight. I have seen worse, but it doesn’t fail to shock. My heart is still racing.