I spent 3.5 years in the US Air Force Reserves and never saw a day of combat. I’ve never actually witnessed a friend or family member or even a pet die either, knock on wood. Outside of movies, I’ve never seen anyone actually die. Until I was in Bahrain.
It was a crisp, clear Wednesday morning and I was out for a stroll in Manama, walking near the waterfront along a busy thoroughfare leading to the King Fahad Causeway, a bridge connecting Bahrain to Saudi Arabia.
All of a sudden I heard a horrible screech and noticed a van had crashed into a light post on the other side of the road.
A man stumbled out of the van grasping his heart, stumbled onto the grassy shoulder, and breathed his last. Two other cars pulled over, with drivers jumping out to help but…it was too late, he was gone. The drivers searched his car as well and thankfully he was traveling alone.
I would have come over myself but imagine a six lane divided freeway streaming with traffic. No need to add a second fatality…
It took the ambulance some times to arrive, but once they arrived it did not take long. From what I could see from my perch a few hundred feet away, there was no real attempt to revive him. A white sheet was placed over his body. I turned away and kept walking.
If I had to guess, I would say he had a heart attack – the road was busy, but not exactly crowded and he did not appear to be speeding. How else do you hit a lamppost on the side of the road?
Life is precious. I hope that his family and friends have found peace in this loss.
It depends if he was wearing his seatbelt or not. Could have just hit the steering wheel fracturing his sternum.
Or it could have just been inattentiveness, driver error, or a seizure.