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Injured Snowmobile Rider Wants to Thank Good Samaritan

February 24, 2009 - VASSALBORO — It could have turned out so much worse for Joey DeMerchant.

His snowmobile in pieces and his knee aching from an injury, DeMerchant dragged his useless leg to the roadside and wondered whether a snowbank might be his bed for the night.

"I just needed help, and I didn't know how quick I would get help," he said.

It would have been enough if the first driver DeMerchant saw had stopped and called an ambulance. This woman did much more.

After helping DeMerchant into her car, she drove him to a hospital, helped him check in and waited until a family member arrived.

But through all the pain, confusion and concern, nobody ever thought to get her name. Now, DeMerchant is eager to find her.

"It was a nice thing that she did, and I'd like to thank her," DeMerchant said.

DeMerchant, 24, said he was out for a quick snowmobile ride from his house on Nelson Road to Webber Pond when the crash occurred around 4 p.m. Tuesday.

The ride took him through a field near Seaward Mills Road that had turned into a bumpy, icy slalom in recent days, said Kerri DeMerchant, his wife.

One of those bumps sent DeMerchant and his sled skyward.

"Unfortunately, his knee was the first thing to hit the ice," his wife said. "He said his foot actually hit his back."

DeMerchant didn't know he was hurt until he tried to stand. Blood came through his jeans from bone-deep gashes on both sides of his knee.

With no cell phone, he limped about 40 yards to Seaward Mills Road.

He was there only a few minutes when the first vehicle approached. "She held onto him and walked him to the car, opened the door and helped him into the car," Kerri DeMerchant said.

The Good Samaritan took him to MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta and stayed with him until Kerri DeMerchant's sister arrived, then told his sister-in-law where the snowmobile was, and left.

"For her to pull over and drive some stranger that's bleeding in her car, I think she saved his life," Kerri DeMerchant said.

By CRAIG CROSBY, Kennebec Journal February 21, 2009


Lakes:
Regions: Mid Coast


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