‘Hero’ mail carrier’s quick thinking saves bleeding man cut by chainsaw, CA cops say
A California mail carrier is being called a hero after stepping in to save a man injured in a chainsaw accident.
U.S. Postal Service worker Fernando Garcia was finishing his shift in Norwalk, a Los Angeles suburb, when he heard shouts at a nearby home, KNBC-TV reported. He rushed toward the noise and found a man lying on the ground.
“When he turned around, I saw that he was holding his left arm,” Garcia told CBSLA, recalling the Oct. 9 incident. “And he was just covered in blood.”
Garcia sprang into action, using his pants belt as tourniquet to help slow the bleeding until emergency crews arrived. He said he thought to use his belt, mimicking what he’d seen in the movies.
“Looped it through the hole, put it around his arm, tighten it as best as I could, and just wrapped it up,” he said, according to the news station. “And held it there as best as I could.”
The man, Miguel Cabral, said he was working in the garage when he cut himself on the arm, about 3 inches below the elbow, The Associated Press reported. Realizing the severity of his injury, Cabral called out to his sister to get help.
It was her screams that drew the mail carrier’s attention.
Thanks to Garcia’s quick thinking, authorities said Cabral is expected to make a full recovery, according to KNBC-TV. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department even celebrated the mail carrier’s actions in a special tweet, calling him an “every day hero.”
Cabral told the Associated Press he’s just as grateful Garcia stepped in when he did.
“The minutes were very long,” he told the outlet. “It seemed like the paramedics were never going to get there. I told him a million times, ‘Thank you.’ He is the real hero.”
Garcia said he was glad to help.
“I was a little panicky but at the end of the day... I did what anybody else would have done, which was to try to stop the bleeding,” he said, according to KNBC-TV. “I was just fortunate to be there, to help him out.”
This story was originally published October 14, 2020 at 12:21 PM with the headline "‘Hero’ mail carrier’s quick thinking saves bleeding man cut by chainsaw, CA cops say."