Pfc. Jade Johnson of Fort Campbell stopped for gas outside of Nashville, TN, about an hour south of Fort Campbell, around 4 a.m. on Saturday when he witnessed a violent car crash. The infantryman with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) says that he thought a gas line exploded when a vehicle slammed head-first into a telephone pole.
Johnson and a non-military Good Samaritan cautiously approached the car that was leaking fluids and slowly catching fire. The duo called 911 then helped the driver, who could barely walk, to a safe distance from the car to recuperate. Johnson then pulled the unconscious passenger from the car.
He began applying first-aid to both men when he noticed the passenger had suffered an arterial laceration just above the knees. Thankfully, the unconscious passenger was unable to feel the pain.
“There was blood pulsing out of it,” Johnson said. “In my training, if it’s pulsating, that means it’s arterial.”
Johnson took the shirt off his back and used it, along with the passenger’s shirt, to create a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. He treated the minor abrasions to the drivers face as well. The passenger woke up during the incident, screaming and writhing in pain. Johnson waited with the victims for over an hour until help arrived.
The humble service member claims that his military training prepared him for the emergency.
“If it wasn’t for that, I probably wouldn’t have known what to do, [I] didn’t even have to think about it,” Johnson said.
Both victims were taken to a local hospital for treatment and are in stable condition.
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