Cody Carpenter and Jacob Lanier, Casper-based electricians, were on their way to a job in Evanston, Wyoming, on Monday when they noticed a plume of dust billowing up from the road ahead, approximately 20 miles east of Farson.
They arrived to find a man lying face down in the gravel on the shoulder of Wyoming Highway 28 and a crumpled motorcycle 20 feet away.
The man’s shoes were gone, and he was bleeding through his white socks. His hands and arms were also splattered with blood, and his helmet was cracked in the back.
“When we arrived, he was unconscious and lying face down. “The first thing I thought was, ‘Oh man, this guy’s probably dead,'” Carpenter said, relieved when he heard the man groan.
They called 911 and followed the instructions to keep the man talking and not move him around. Carpenter was relieved when the man started talking, but it was clear he had sustained a head injury.
“He was out of it,” Carpenter explained. “He was asking the same questions over and over. What happened? Where is his bicycle? “What happened?”
Half an hour later, EMTs arrived and took the man to Farson, where he was airlifted to the University of Utah Hospital. He is currently being treated for multiple head traumas, six broken ribs, and other injuries.
The man’s name is Bob Newman.
He’s a retired deputy sheriff from Roundup, Montana, and was on his way to see his youngest daughter, Megan Cartwright, who lives in Green River, Wyoming, with her husband, a trona miner for WE Soda.
These electricians do not see themselves as heroes.
“I don’t feel like we did anything above what’s expected, in my opinion,” Lanier, who is 31, said. “We just happened to be the first ones there.”
However, Cartwright is convinced that they were sent from Heaven.
“I tear up thinking about them, because I feel like they’re my dad’s angels,” Cartwright sobbed as she spoke to Cowboy State Daily from the University of Utah Hospital’s intensive care unit.
“If it wasn’t for them, there could have been a different outcome,” she told me. “They were amazing, and they were in the right place at the right time.”
What Caused The Crash?
On his way to Green River, Newman called to say his back hurt and that he’d need to rest overnight, so Cartwright got him a hotel room in Lander.
The next morning, she said her father was confused when he called to explain that he was behind schedule again for a different reason.
He had driven in the wrong direction after leaving Lander and hadn’t realized it until he arrived in Dubois, which surprised him given that he had driven the same route to Green River several times before.
Newman, 70, is a diabetic who has had three heart attacks in previous years.
Cartwright believes his loss of consciousness on Highway 28 near Farson was caused by a combination of health conditions and prescription drug side effects.
According to Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers, Newman rode through gravel on the highway shoulder for about 25 feet before the bike’s left footpeg struck the ground and launched him into the air.
First responders conjecture the crack in the back of his helmet is the result of an airborne collision with the motorcycle, which was dented in multiple locations and leaking fluids when the electricians arrived on the scene.
Newman is a member of the Patriot Guard Riders of Montana biker club, where he’s known as “Buffalo Bob.”
He usually drove his RV to visit his daughter in Wyoming, but told her his days of motorcycle riding would soon be behind him and wanted to maximize his time in the saddle before hanging it up.
“He’s been thinking about selling his bike and he wanted to get one last ride before the summer is over. Turns out it was his last ride,” Cartwright said.
Paying If Forward
Cartwright now is waiting nervously in the ICU for signs of improvement.
“They removed his breathing tube today, and we are waiting to see how he does without it. “I’m thrilled to hear his voice again,” she said.
It is impossible to say whether Lanier and Carpenter influenced the outcome of Newman’s accident. Whether or not they are heroes, the experience will live on in their memories.
The incident has prompted Lanier to revisit a car accident from his childhood. As a 10-year-old boy, he was hit head on by a drunk driver while riding in a car with his grandparents.
He remembers the Samaritans with a renewed sense of gratitude.
“They helped get me out of the car, gave me a blanket and sat with me until the officers and the fire department showed up,” he told me. “I was just a little kid, and I think about it, and I really appreciate those people for stopping to help back then.”
Carpenter reflects on the situation with gratitude for his own health and unwavering humility.
“They’re calling us heroes, but I don’t think we are. “I’d just say we’re two average guys doing what we thought was right,” he explained.
