4 ms·
Two weeks after earning a PhD in medical research, I was driving down the highway and saw a terrible accident right in front of me. I pulled over and attended t
by subcosmos 9y ago
Two weeks after earning a PhD in medical research, I was driving down the highway and saw a terrible accident right in front of me. I pulled over and attended to an unconscious man in a crushed vehicle. Myself and several other good Samaritans tried to resuscitate him, but failed.
It was fathers day. I would later find out he was about 40 with two kids. Way too young.
For a time I blamed myself for not being a "real doctor", and I developed PTSD and alcoholism. Years later however, what emerged from that pain was a medical research nonprofit that applies genomics and digital health to hopefully extend the most lives. It's my only passion, really.
Sometimes we create the most amazing things by responding to terrible tragedies. It has taken me 4 years to see the silver lining in that scenario.
- mod 9y agoI was once a certified lifeguard & first responder, and pulled a man from a river during a vacation. He had been underwater several minutes (the man couldn't swim), as he could not be seen--the water was murky & visibility was < 12 inches. He was not lifeless, as he vomited after rescue, but we was not resuscitated and died on the scene. It's been about 12 years now, I think. I made some mistakes which I think could have been avoided. Not the mistake of standing by, but I didn't keep my training at the front of my brain. Namely, I did not ensure 911 was called before we found the body, and I did not spend a few seconds trying to recruit more people to look for the body. Both of those may have saved his life, it's hard to say. I haven't found a silver lining, and I don't expect to. I simply hope that I can perform better in the event that such a thing happens again.