Bill Lewis is sure he would have died if a stranger hadnāt come to his aid.
āI donāt even know his name,ā Lewis, an 84-year-old widower who lives in Langley, said.
Now, he wants to say thank you.
Lewis fell and fractured his right hip during a Halloween night snowfall outside his home in the Livingstone RV Park at 23141 72 Ave. in Langley, where the widower has lived for six years.
He described how he returned home in his car on Oct. 31, and got out with the walker he relies upon since both of his knee joints, and both hip joints, were replaced.
āIt was snowing when I left,ā Lewis told the Langley Advance Times.
āWhen I left, it wasnāt so bad, but coming back, there was about an inch.ā
Just before he reached the entrance ramp to his front door, a wheel of the walker hit an unseen rut, and Lewis tripped and fell down, breaking his hip.
āIt got stuck, and I went back, and the whole thing [walker] went over my head. It tossed me on the ground,ā he described.
He couldnāt phone for help because heād left his cell phone at home.
āIām bad for forgetting things,ā Lewis admitted.
Lewis was on the ground between two trailers, in the snow, in dark clothing on a dark evening, out of sight of most passers-by.
āI couldnāt move that much afterwards, because the pain was so bad,ā Lewis said.
āI was shouting and waving, but there was only one one or two cars driving past, and theyāre not looking at me, because itās snowing.ā
He remembers his teeth chattering, and his back freezing, because of the snow and moisture.
āI honestly thought I was going to die. I was just shivering and shivering and shivering.ā
He estimates he was on the ground for about an hour, until a man walking past spotted Lewis and came to his aid.
āHe saved me from getting too cold,ā Lewis recalled.
āHe went inside my trailer, took the blankets and came back out and covered me up, so I wasnāt so cold, then.ā
His rescuer called 911.
Paramedics arrived, loaded Lewis into an ambulance, wrapped him in warm blankets, and took him to hospital, where he spent more than two months in rehab.
āIt still hurts a little bit,ā Lewis said of his injury.
āIām not saying Iām used to it, because Iām not.ā
He wishes he had thought to ask his Good Samaritanās name.
āI was delirious, right?ā he explained.
His rescuer, he recalled, did tell him that he was living just up the street from Lewis, but it appears they had moved on, and taken their trailer with them, by the time Lewis had returned to his home.
Heās hoping his rescuer will see this story, and know how grateful he is.
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āIām thankful that he found me because I was thinking, well, is this the way Iām gonna go? I didnāt know, because I was getting so cold,ā Lewis related.
āItās just possible I could have died there, because I was saying to myself if nobody comes, and I canāt move, Iām finished.ā
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He also wanted to make a public thank-you to the paramedics who āsort of got me in gentleā to the ambulance, as well as the hospital and rehab staff.
Have a story tip? Email: dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com
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