Couple whose lives he saved want to say thanks
Lois and Edward “Speed” Guerin are still recovering from serious injuries suffered in July, but if not for the help of a stranger they might not be alive to tell about it.
Both Lois and Edward came from the same small town in Michigan but did not meet and marry until they arrived in Sun City Center.
“Speed,” as Edward is known locally, bought a condo in Kings Point in 1979 and was a snowbird until moving to Florida fulltime in 1989.
“My cousin married a friend of his [Speed’s] and we met and married here,” she said.
The couple, now married 14 years, say they love their life in the quiet, set-back section of the development where they own their home and often use their golf cart for transportation instead of their car.
July 30, they were on their way home from Walmart on their golf cart with a load of groceries. They crossed U.S. 301 at the legal golf cart crossing and headed down the golf cart path through the woods to their home when, suddenly, the driver’s side of the cart smashed hard into a pole that seemed to appear right in front of them.
Neither could fully explain what happened, but Lois said that “People who travel that path need to be aware there’s a post there.”
Speed said he wasn’t “speeding” but might have looked away for just a second, and that’s all it took.
When they crashed, both were thrown from the cart.
“I tore my leg wide open and there was so much blood it looked like I was the most critical,” Speed said.
But as it turned out, it was Lois who was kept in the hospital for two days because she had hit her head, and her face was black and blue. She also suffered a broken bone in her knee and had a big cut in her arm that required 12 stitches.
“I was very dazed but never unconscious,” Lois said.
Speed, however, was bleeding profusely.
Just then, as they hit the ground, he saw what he thinks was a pickup truck pull up close to the electrical tower near the post he had hit. Since no cars are allowed on the golf cart path or anywhere in that area of woods, Speed thinks the man may have been an electrical tower worker.
“What I remember is him taking a look at me and running back to his truck and getting a red T-shirt,” said Speed. “He wrapped it around my leg and taped it with industrial tape like a tourniquet. I was losing so much blood. I know he saved my life.”
Who called 9-1-1 is not known for sure because as this was happening, two women approached after seeing there was a problem.
Because two separate ambulances were dispatched to take the couple to Tampa General Hospital, and they took Speed first, as he left he asked the women to please call his friend so he could get hold of West Coast Golf Carts to come pick up the damaged cart. The friend didn’t answer, so the women stayed with Lois until her ambulance arrived and then took the couple’s groceries home with them and saved them until Ed returned from the hospital.
In a world where there is so much bad news, this was obviously a night full of Good Samaritans.
“I think the women’s names were Betsy Brownell and Fettie Bottoms,” Lois said. Unsure of the spelling, she did understand their saying that Fettie was from Alabama but also had a place locally.
“We thanked the woman who brought the groceries over, but we still don’t have any idea who the man with the T-shirt was,” Speed said. “We would love to know who he is so we can thank him. There’s no telling what would have happened if he hadn’t bound up my leg.”
The couple said they hope their rescuer sees their photograph, reads this story and contacts them via this writer’s email at penny@pennyfletcher.com.
Let’s hope he sees it and makes contact.