Day 14: Life Saver

A car accident is the last thing that most of us want to have happen.  And particularly on a weekday, during rush hour traffic.  Almost makes you shudder, thinking of being that person who is clogging up traffic, making everyone late to where ever they are trying to go.  But on July 23, 2010, if the cars passing the accident (described below) knew lives had been spared because of it, I imagine they would have been very grateful to be slowly inching their way along the highway.   

"(Duane) Innes, a 48-year-old Boston native who has lived in Kent for 25 years, was driving his grown children and some family friends to the Mariners-Red Sox game on July 23.

At about 5:15 p.m., he had just passed Valley Medical Center and was planning to merge from Highway 167 onto Interstate 405.  Traffic was building so he decided to get into the carpool lane on his left.  

As he changed lanes, he notice the white pickup ahead of him move from the far-right lane to the center lane without signaling.  

No big deal, Innes thought.  Just a careless driver.

But then the pickup continued to move left and almost struck Innes' minivan.  Innes swerved into the emergency pull-off lane, sped past the pickup and got back into the carpool lane.

In his rearview mirror, he saw 80-year-old Bill Pace slumped over the wheel of the pickup, which sideswiped the concrete barrier.

"We realized he wasn't slowing down, and if he hit someone at full speed, it would've been a very bad scene," Innes said. The intersection with Southwest Grady Way was a few hundred yards away. "He could've very easily unknowingly taken out a whole row of traffic."

Instinctively, Innes applied his 25 years of experience at Boeing, where he is a manager for the F22 fighter-jet program.

"The best-case scenario is I need to match his speed, get in front of him and let him hit me," Innes remembers thinking.

Innes didn't consult his passengers but did announce his plan before he executed it.

No one responded.

"I don't know if they were all in shock or thinking, 'What crazy thing is my dad doing?' " he said.

Crazy or not, the plan worked.

Pace's pickup hit the minivan, and Innes held onto the brakes to halt both vehicles. When they stopped, he knocked on the pickup's window to alert Pace, who was by then semiconscious, and got him to unlock the door.

Pace, who would spend the next six days in a hospital for his heart problems, still had his foot on the accelerator when Innes got to him.

"Most people wouldn't have done nothing," Pace said. "They'd be cussing at me, giving me the finger. But not him."

"He saved my life, really — and God knows who else."

Thank goodness for those people who are able to look beyond their own circumstance and recognize those in need.  What a show of generosity to put oneself in harm's way for the well-being of another person, a stranger none the less.  Quick thinking, brilliant reasoning, selfless actions, and saved lives.  Good news indeed.  


This story was found at The Seattle Times.

Twitter Updates – Follow Good News for Isla on Twitter. 
RSS Subscription – Subscribe to Good News for Isla via RSS in a reader.
Email Updates – Sign up for email updates.