Evan Low raised the ante on public service earlier this month, when the state assemblyman and one of his staff members helped rescue two young women from an overturned vehicle.
Driving north on Highway 17 around lunchtime on Aug. 16, Low and Patrick Ahrens spotted a car near the Hamilton Avenue exit that had flipped onto its hood in a dirt patch off the freeway. Low, who represents West Valley’s 28th Assembly District, thought the scene looked a bit “eerie” and wanted to take a closer despite no flames or smoke to suggest an immediate danger. That all changed as they approached the vehicle on foot.
“We saw a girl in the driver seat, with the car flipped over,” Low said. “She had one hand sticking out and she said, ‘help me, help me.’ She was bleeding from the head.”
After pulling the driver from the car, Low said, he and Ahrens were told that her sister was still trapped inside the vehicle.
“I asked if she was OK and she said she was but couldn’t get out,” Low said. “We lifted the car, but there were shards of glass everywhere. So I grabbed my dry cleaning and put it over the glass so she was able to crawl out without being bloodied up.”
Emergency responders arrived a few minutes later, Low said. Bill Murphy, a firefighter and paramedic for the Santa Clara County Fire Department, told San Jose Inside that both individuals involved in the accident were treated at the scene and did not require transportation to the hospital. Low and Ahrens suffered a few cuts from the broken glass but nothing serious.
“I’m not a first responder, so just a minute ago I was planning my calm Sunday afternoon,” Low said. “It’s kind of surreal, to see someone pleading for help and just dropping everything because you feel for the individual, not knowing what the issue might be or any pending danger. It’s just one of those things where you know something is wrong and you want to try to help.”
Low’s father, Arthur, posted the following message and photos to Facebook:
It was nice that he stopped and helped, but he didn’t “rescue” anyone. And then he had to make the politician’s move of publicizing his actions. I’m sure it was a great photo op.
Agreed, he did the right thing, but that quote patting himself on the back for “dropping everything” with no regard for “any pending danger” reeks of political opportunism. He sounds overly impressed with himself.
Proud of you two!
Wait a sec….this happened 10 days ago and it’s just being written about today? It took Low’s father 10 days to post it on Facebook? Call me crazy or is this some vain effort by Low to get press? Evan, great job of tarnishing an otherwise kind deed by trying to get publicity out of it. Unbelievable…..
C-spine held? Spinal precautions taken? Good pulses, motor and sensory before removal from the vehicle? Pt is awake and alert to person/place/time/event to rule out head injury? It would be a shame to be made a spinal injury victim because you “removed” them from the vehicle.
The Good Samaritan law would protect Low and the staffer, IIRC. But BOHICA makes a good point. The prudent thing to do would be to make certain there was no imminent danger from leaking gasoline, etc., and call then 9-1-1.
My own reaction: meh. So what? Mr. Low was never in any danger, so this wouldn’t make me inclined to vote for him. Or against him, for that matter. What he did cannot be called ‘courageous’. He was first on the scene and helped out, that’s all.
Now, if Low does something that actually helps rescue hard-bitten taxpayers from the endless pickpocketing by the Legislature, THAT is something that would take real courage in this state.
I wonder if Low has that kind of courage?
These crazy nuts… Yes Evan low and the staffer.. If the was no imminent danger such as fire etc they should have waited for the professional paramedic or fire dept to arrive. For all we know the could have suffered spinal injury .. And with them removing the two it could have been more drastic . This makes Evan low look like some type of super here… Or is his dad trying to make Hom look good in the political arena ….