MIAMI (WSVN) - A South Florida doctor who was on his way home from a night out and rushed to the aid of someone he fell out of a vehicle on Interstate 95 is sharing his story.
“What would have happened had I not gotten there, no one would know,” said Dr. Miguel Ribe.”I think me getting there in time to kind of support his airways and keep him alert hopefully helped.”
Ribe thinks a lot about the man on the highway.
“It was just kind of like instinct to just pull over,” said Ribe.
He is seen on top of a stranger holding his head still.
“He had a big chunk of his skull missing, and he was bleeding from his head,” said Ribe.
He, his fiancé and their friends were out enjoying Miami, when his fiancé noticed someone on the ground hurt off of the I-95 ramp, around 11:11 p.m.
“The first thing I noticed was that his breathing was very labored, and he was kind of choking on it. I didn’t know if it was blood or what it was, but I just kind of hold jaw thrust to take that pressure off the airway, so that was the first thing I did, and after that, I just kept talking to him,” said Ribe.
Despite not having the right ER equipment with him, his focus was on keeping the stranger alive.
Ribe is currently doing his residency at Jackson Memorial Hospital. That training may just have prepared him for this moment Saturday night.
“We feel very comfortable here, but over there you really don’t have much to do except, you know, whatever you can do with your hands, and just kind of hope and pray that things don’t turn for the worst,” said Ribe.
Miami Fire Rescue said the man was on a privately owned bus. The only other person on board was the driver. He was standing on a platform at one of the exits and right at the curb, for some reason, he fell out and hit his head.
“He pulled over right away, and he was actually, the bus was right in front of the patient, so he was there, and he was trying to call. He was very frantic, you know, very nervous,” said Ribe.
Ribe kept him stable until rescue crews arrived. Crews said he was talking to them at that point. They rushed him to the hospital.
He is proud he was there at the right time to find him.
“I hope he’s doing OK, but unfortunately, I don’t know. I hope that one day I’ll know. You know, hopefully one day I get to meet his family,” said Ribe.
The man who was hurt is not Ribe’s patient, so legally, he cannot ask about him.
The victim is recovering at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
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