Lennie Glasser was cycling with friends when he stopped to fix his tyre, it took over an hour and made him late but it also helped him be on time to save a life.
Johannesburg, South Africa – Cyclist Lennie Glasser took to Facebook to share his experience while out cycling yesterday. What started out as a usual Sunday, turned into a moment that changed multiple lives.
Lennie got a flat tyre early on in his ride and stopped to sort it out. It took much longer than he had anticipated so he told his friends to ride on ahead and he would catch up. What was meant to be one tube change, turned into two and he spent over an hour working on his bike.
Eventually, he managed to get back on the road but made a quick stop to see whereabouts his friends were. They had originally agreed to wait at the car for Lennie so he quickly got back on his bike and put foot to reach them at a reasonable time.
But fate intervened… Lennie rode past a car on the roadside and as he went by a man started screaming that his child was dying in the back seat. Lennie stopped and quickly went in to help.
“15 minutes after speaking to Martin I was passing the Rhino and Lion Nature reserve in the Cradle of Human Kind. I noticed a car on the side of the road and didn’t really think much at the time. As I passed the car I heard a man screaming “MY BABY IS DYING, MY BABY IS DYING SOMEONE PLEASE HELP?”
I pulled over to the side and saw a bike lying in front of the car and my first thought was that a cyclist had been knocked over.”
When Lennie got around to the other side of the car he saw a baby lying lifeless on the roadside. He quickly jumped into action and started to perform CPR.
“Immediately I began CPR, gave my phone to a bystander and asked them to call Netcare911 and continued performing CPR.
I was joined by an elderly man who offered to assist and seemed to know CPR as well. Handed over to him and realized that none of the bystanders had made contact with emergency services as I had requested.
I found my phone and called both Netcare911 and ER24 explained that I had an 18-month-old baby who was not conscious or breathing, that CPR was in progress and that we needed an ambulance and ALS as soon as possible.”
They continued CPR while waiting for emergency services to arrive. According to Lennie, Netcare911 got to the scene in record time. They took over and gave the child the medical treatment needed until the ambulance arrived. Lennie was extremely thankful for everything done by the team as well as for the medical centre that had given him the skills needed to help save the child’s life.
“Most importantly I want to thank Hashem for giving me the zechut (merit) to save the life but mainly for delaying me on my ride so that I could ride past the family in need when I did.
Nothing in the world happens by accident and even the most insignificant and mundane things happen for a reason.
Please, G-d the baby should be ok and have a complete recovery.”
Lennie received the good news that the baby is in stable condition. It is moments like this that change the way we see the world. Bring hope and light in dark times. People like Lennie are the reason we keep sharing the good news.
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