Neighbor assists woman involved in car crash

SUN CITY — Martin Loughlin was watering his tree on June 3 in the middle of the afternoon. He had staked the deep root watering system on his tree.

Then everything changed.

“It was a very hot day. And I was sitting in the garage when I saw a car come down Stonewater Crossing. It was not speeding. But it looked like it was going to hit the tree I was watering,” he said.

The street was otherwise empty.

Loughlin said, “Luckily there was no oncoming traffic. The car missed my tree but hit my neighbor’s mailbox. The car bounced off the mailbox and knocked down his tree. The car finally came to a stop.”

Loughlin first wanted to know if the driver was okay.

“I did not know if it was a man or woman at first. I ran over to the car and pulled the car door open. I saw that the airbag had been deployed. I approached the car and saw that it was a woman and that even though the airbag had worked, she had a bump on her head.”

Then, he jumped into action.

Loughlin said, “She seemed dazed. Her seatbelt was on. The deployed airbag was smoking.”

Sometimes, the smoke seen in a vehicle after an airbag demonstration is the nontoxic starch or talc that is used to lubricate the air bag.

“I tried to talk to her and keep her calm. I told her to relax and I asked her if she could turn off the engine. She didn’t seem to be able to respond. I reached over and shut the engine off. The radiator was leaking fluid. She began to complain that her shoulder hurt, and I thought about taking her seatbelt off, but I decided not to since I didn’t know what her injuries were,” he said.

A cracked radiator is a fairly common outcome of accidents, even in low-impact ones.

Martin said, “I didn’t have my cell phone on me, but I saw that a car was approaching and I stopped the car and asked them to call 911 and report the accident. The paramedics were quick to come to the scene. I was hoping to find out if the woman was okay, but I haven’t been able to find out anything.”

No information on the driver has been released. The woman was the only passenger in the car.

Loughlin’s neighbor, John Smith, called him a hero, responding quickly and getting the woman help.

The Sun City association has already replaced the damaged mailbox, and the tree has been removed.

Loughlin added, “They will be planting a new tree to replace the one lost.”

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