By Sarah Calams
Police1
RAVENNA, Ohio — On April 22, 2022, Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper Matthew Soeder was called to the scene of a two-vehicle crash. When he arrived, the scene was chaotic. The vehicles were flipped over, one victim was having a seizure and another had life-threatening injuries.
A good Samaritan on scene, James Newman Sr., had been out with his wife when he saw the incident unfold. He had been tending to a college student, who was an injured passenger in one of the two vehicles.
“I immediately put on my gloves and got my tourniquet out, applied that tourniquet, made sure there was enough pressure on there,” Soeder told FOX8.com. “James made sure that the tourniquet stayed on.”
The victim underwent several surgeries and blood transfusions following the crash, but his parents said the tourniquet Soedor applied saved their son’s life.
“His scapula was shattered, two vertebrae were broken, his femur was broken in many places so they had to put a rod in his leg and then they had told us that they had to amputate below his knee,” Koreen Brattoli, the man’s mother, said.
Soedor and Newman were recently honored for their lifesaving efforts. Soeder received the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Distinguished Service Medallion Award and Newman received a Certificate of Recognition award.
Brattoli said her son has since returned to Kent State University.
“There are no words. The appreciation that we have for them … it’s just incredible and usually I’m not at a loss for words, but today the only thing I can say is thank you,” she said.
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