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Cyclist seeks Good Samaritan to return sentimental blanket

Blanket covered in Scout badges was lent to rider who suffered terrible injuries after falling over

A cyclist is seeking the Good Samaritan passers by who helped him when he fell off his bike - so he can thank them for their kindness.

Roy Saunders, 67, broke his pelvis, hip, ribs and collarbone when he fell in the street, and spent nearly three weeks in hospital following the accident.

But kind strangers at the scene lent him blankets to keep warm - and he says he would particularly like to return one that is covered in Scout badges, on a red and blue background.

Roy, a retired aerospace engineer, fell off his bike at about 6.30pm on November 30, on Eastfield Road in Westbury-on-Trym.

His wife, Ann Saunders, told the Bristol Evening Post: "When Roy fell off his bike, two women held up the traffic, protected him from being moved and stayed out in the cold for an hour and a half, looking after him and me.

"A passing doctor held his head steady and a man phoned me, brought his bike home and took me to the accident site.

"When I finally returned from the hospital that night, I found I was in possession of two blankets, with which one of the Good Samaritans must have covered up Roy.

"One of the blankets is obviously of sentimental value and has many Scout badges sewn on to it.

"I have tried to locate its owner via the Scouts but unsuccessfully so far.

"It would be lovely to reunite it with its owner."

Roy added: "I didn't lose consciousness and I remember the three women who helped me until the ambulance came.

"One man took my bike home and got my wife.

"One woman kept me talking all the time and I'm very, very grateful for all the help they gave me, it was very comforting at the time.

"Southmead Hospital also did a brilliant job, very efficient, and I am impressed at the recovery I have made since it happened.”

Last year we reported how police in Belarus employed a novel way of reinforcing the need to pay attention to cyclists in need – by staging a fake collision scene, with a mangled bike and a dummy standing in for an unconscious cyclist, complete with fake blood.

Going by pictures posted to a Belarusian website, it was a chillingly convincing scene, complete with fake blood.

But BBC News, citing the report, says that only nine motorists stopped their vehicles, out of 186 that passed by.

That’s a rate of one in 20, even though in some cases a police officer played the part of a passer-by and attempted to flag down passing traffic to alert them to the scene.

One of them drove past the incident but went back to investigate further, and five other motorists reported what they had seen when they reached a traffic checkpoint further down the road.

Each of the "Good Samaritans" received a calendar and a licence plate frame for having stopped.

One middle-aged couple that stopped at the scene offered to take the casualty to hospital until they were told that wouldn’t be necessary.

Asked whether, had the incident been real, he’d have been worried about blood staining the back seat of his car, the man, Grigory Yevgenievich replied: "Human life is precious, and you can always wash your seat covers."

 

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3 comments

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Kapelmuur | 8 years ago
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Waiting an hour and a half?!!!

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wycombewheeler replied to Kapelmuur | 8 years ago
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Kapelmuur wrote:

Waiting an hour and a half?!!!

Pretty quick, if the patient is concioys and breathing they are low priority. We had a boy wait over 2 hours after a broken leg in a football match.

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giff77 replied to wycombewheeler | 8 years ago
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wycombewheeler wrote:
Kapelmuur wrote:

Waiting an hour and a half?!!!

Pretty quick, if the patient is concioys and breathing they are low priority. We had a boy wait over 2 hours after a broken leg in a football match.

when I dislocated and shattered my ankle we made the call to put me in the car and get me to hospital. (5 minutes drive) the paramedic on seeing the state I was in said I deserved a blue light for it. We said that the control room would have placed me on low priority he said I suppose your right. My sis who is orthopaedics said we made the right call as well as the bone was pushing out against the skin and various blood vessels. 

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