Off-Duty Chicago Cop Helps Badly Injured Cyclist In Roscoe Village
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Dressed in shorts and a Hawaiian shirt as he was driving through Roscoe Village with his son, Officer Sean Hayes said he was "in the right place at the right time" when a cyclist was doored by a female motorist, causing a serious injury to his neck.
Hayes was driving south on Damen Avenue with his 6-year-old son around 9:45 a.m. when he saw a man walking around, appearing confused and injured, so he stopped to help.
"It looked like he was hurting, and he was holding his hand to his neck, and I asked him if he was okay, and all of a sudden, a lot of blood started coming out of his neck. He said 'No, I'm hurt,'" Hayes said.
Just before that, a woman had opened her car door in the man's path as he was riding his bike north on Damen, causing him to crash.
"It looked like the front door of the car that he was standing in front of was completely pushed against the front of the car, so I could tell there was impact," he said.
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Hayes, a firearms instructor at the police academy, said he retrieved a bag used in Law Enforcement Medical and Rescue Training classes, and applied a pressure bandage to the 21-year-old man's wound. The officer said it appeared the edge of the door frame punctured the young man's neck, causing profuse bleeding.
"Everyone was pretty hysterical. The victim was noticeably and obviously uncomfortable. I told him everything was going to be fine. I kept pressure against his wound and his neck, and just told him that he was okay, everything was fine," he said.
The 16-year veteran officer said the woman who opened her car door was clearly upset, and "not making things easy, so I chose a difficult bandage for her to open up and work on, and kept her busy with that while she walked away."
Meantime, Hayes kept chatting with the victim to take his mind off his injury.
"My son thought it was great. Daddy's a hero," Hayes said.
A Fire Department ambulance showed up a short time later, and paramedics took the injured cyclist to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. Hayes said the man would have a scar on his neck, but otherwise he would be fine.
