Pretty gory accident, and I think the rider died later, anyway.
Motorcyclist loses leg in I-84 accident
By Heather Barr
THE NEWS-TIMES
DANBURY — A New Fairfield man used quick thinking and his own belt to help save a East Haven man after a motorcycle crash along Interstate 84 Saturday night severed his lower left leg.
State Police said Ronald Sokoloski Jr., 21, of Boston Avenue, East Haven, was traveling west on Interstate 84 around 9:45 p.m. when he failed to negotiate a curve in the highway. He lost control of his motorcycle, traveled into and beyond the left shoulder and struck the metal guardrail.
He was thrown from his motorcycle and suffered serious injuries to his lower left leg.
Ra Isbell, 34, of New Fairfield, was the first to come on the scene. He used his belt as a suture to tie around his leg and stop the bleeding.
"It was unbelievably mangled," said Isbell. "It was completely freaky, something out of a war movie."
Sokoloski was transported to Danbury Hospital by Danbury Ambulance, where he was taken into surgery. Sokoloski was in stable condition Saturday night.
Sokoloski's sister, Mary Sokoloski, 20, of West Haven, said her brother, an Army National Guard veteran, was in a positive frame of mind. She said her family is thankful the accident was not worse.
They want to thank Isbell, whose actions helped stop the bleeding on Ron's leg.
"He very well could have saved his life," said Mary Sokoloski. She said they planned to call Isbell to thank him.
Around 9:45 p.m., Isbell and his fiancee, Lynn Beekman, were riding in a tow truck on Interstate 84, traveling from Newtown to Danbury.
The truck headed around a bend in the road, when "we saw something in the left lane," said Beekman, 32, of New Fairfield. "We couldn't make out what it was."
"It was dark and around a bad corner," said Isbell, 34. "Then we stopped short and I said, 'Oh my god it's a motorcycle. Where is the driver?' "
They looked and the driver was under a guard rail along the center median.
"I jumped out of the tow truck and I ran right up. I realized his leg was severed from the knee down. He had a 10-inch cut above the knee."
The bone below the man's knee was completely snapped in half and the veins were exposed.
Isbell screamed for a tourniquet from passing motorists. Beekman tried to stop motorists for help. People began to stop. Someone called 911. Someone moved the motorcycle so emergency vehicles could get to the scene.
The man seemed coherent and was moving around, said Isbell.
With no time to wait for help, Isbell grabbed his belt, wrapped it around the Sokoloski's leg and held it tightly to try to stop the bleeding until medical technicians could arrive.
Mary Sokoloski said her brother said he was riding near grass that was freshly cut when he believes his motorcycle, traveling at only about 50 mph, slipped on some wet grass on the highway, causing him to lose control and go into the median.
Isbell held the man's thigh in place while Sokoloski kept asking, "Where's my leg? Someone get my foot."
He was worried about his leg and his motorcycle. Isbell told him that he was lucky to be alive.
"It was so freaky how coherent he was," Isbell said of Sokoloski.
Beekman found the man's foot, about 100 yards up the median. The rest of his shin was up 150 yards further on the eastbound side of the highway.
She hoped to get the parts on ice so they could reattach them at the hospital. Hospital officials said they were not able to reattach his leg.
Sokoloski's sister believes his Army training helped him be strong and pull through. She said he knew he had to stay alert to make it.
The accident is under investigation.
State police said there was also a three-car accident caused when people were stopped in traffic waiting for the accident to be cleared. Ambulances came for six people who had neck and back pain.
Interstate 84 was shut down westbound at Exit 8 for several hours because of the investigation.
"It was pretty crazy," Isbell said. "I'm glad he lived."
Beekman said she had never been in an accident scene like that before and hopes to never be at one again. "I can't get it out of my head," she said Saturday afternoon. "It was really, really scary."
Isbell is a motorcyclist himself and has had some bad injuries. He admits he has driven around Connecticut many times without wearing a helmet.
After coming upon this scene, he doesn't know when he will get back on a motorcycle.
"It was unbelievable, so dramatic," said Isbell.
Topic: Motorcyclist loses leg in I-84 accident /CT (Read 6958 times)