I look back and see a cloud of dust—as I get to the crash site, I see blood pouring from Travis’ face. I have to act quickly. I survey the damage that just occurred to my now totaled ATV and my bleeding friend. I remember I had put a sweatshirt in the box on the back of his ATV. I run over and get it out. I say, “Apply pressure to your face to try and slow the blood flow.”

Travis is a United States Marine and is usually quick to think of a solution. But in this case, I am the one in charge. I know I need to call an ambulance, so I pull out my phone. No service. I quickly think of a different solution because Travis is losing blood.
I put him on my ATV and say, “Hold on to me as tightly as possible and keep my sweatshirt pressed against your face.” Weaving through the trails isn’t about fun—it’s about saving my friend’s life.

Is it around this curve or the next? They all look the same. The crash site is still 10 miles away from where we parked the truck. But I press on. No one is on the street or driving past. Everything is quiet. Finally, the 9 Mile Bar is in sight. But this only marks a fraction of the trip. I removed Travis from my ATV and take him in the bar where people help me clean his face. I ask, “Should I call an ambulance?”

A bar patron responds: “No it’s going to take them longer to find us. If you take him now, it would be much faster, and judging by his wounds, you had better hurry.”

So I detach the trailer and get him back in the truck. My cabin is only a few miles away, and I didn’t know how to get to the hospital, so I take him to the cabin to have my mother (a registered nurse) check him out. When we arrive at my cabin, my mother immediately rushes him to the hospital.

He needed 57 stitches around his eye socket and his nose was shattered.

When we were riding, we came up on an “S” curve. As the leader, I went through it and kept on my way. But then a hawk came down from a tree and swooped in front of me, inches from hitting me. I looked back to see if Travis saw what that hawk had done—but instead I saw a cloud of dust. ,

Coming through the “S” curve, Travis followed too closely and got dusted out. This caused him not to see the second half of the curve. By the time he saw where he was, it was too late. He hit a drainage pipe on the edge of the road, which tipped his ATV. He then hit a tree, causing the handlebar to go through his facemask and smash his face. Even though he was wearing a helmet with a windshield, the handlebar caused substantial damage to his eye and nose. If he had not been wearing a helmet, his injuries could have been fatal.

And If I had not been with him, there is a good chance he would not be here today. Based on my quick thinking and my actions, I saved my best friend’s life. And he is now back overseas defending our country.