I am sitting here watching the Oscars and I'm trying to summarize, in my head, the events that took place today. I decided to go hiking again, and it was really nice because the weather was great. It wasn't too hot and it wasn't too cold. It was a few of us that got together at around noon time and started going up the hill.
Normally, on every other hiking day, we reach the top of the second hill and turn around to come back down, but, today, we were motivated enough to get to the top of the last hill where the towers were. As we walked up the last hill, I was tired by now, but still going at a good pace. There was Rocky Balboa music playing on someone's iphone (it was playing as a joke) as I got up to the top, and felt proud to be done, finally. Today, was a physical success.
So, we got to the top and started walking to the towers where Burbank, Downtown LA, Glendale, and even Catalina Island can be seen on a clear day. Today, there was no Catalina Island because it was cloudy, but everything else was almost there. We sat there for a while to rest a bit, then, got up to start walking down the trail.
As we started walking down, we noticed a man sitting on the ground and a woman standing above him. There was a mountain bike laying down next to them and they both seemed a bit confused. As we got closer, I realized the man's face was covered in blood and figured that he had probably fallen off his bike. As we got a bit closer, I realized his teeth were missing and it was, basically, a "hot mess" of a situation. He was hurt bad, so we offered him a towel and some water. We had a couple of phones with us, so we asked if he wanted us to call the ambulance and he kept replying, "no, no ambulance, I'm okay..." but, everytime he tried getting up, he would have to sit back down because of his dizziness. He had hit his head and who knew what was going on internally? We convinced him to get up as we helped him walk, slowly, down the trail to see how far down we could get him. I grabbed his mountain bike and started rolling it down the trail beside me trying to keep up with it. We made it, for about 10 minutes, trying to get him down, but, guess what happened next? It started raining really hard, so we had to get him to sit down and put a cover over him. Then, guess what? Hail! Yes, it started hailing, while I tried to push this heavy ass bike, that had gotten screwed up from the fall, down this bumpy trail.
Well, it was a nice day, until, then. I was wearing shorts and a top with sneakers. So, by now, I was soaked and skipping down the trail with this bike, while the hail felt like needles on my neck, ears, and legs. Believe it or not, I was excited. The whole experience was exciting, but cold. So. cold. I don't remember ever being that cold, not even in snow. My legs were numb, so no feeling there, but the stinging of the hail on my ears were the worst. I looked back to see everybody else trying to walk down the trail, while making the best of this situation, as I began to laugh. It was awesome and so much fun!
We walked down 10 more minutes and realized that the injured man was not feeling so well, so his wife asked us to call the ambulance. As a word of advice, up there, the only company that had reception was Verizon. So, thank you Verizon!
We called the ambulance and stood there waiting for them. To my surprise, they had sent out a helicopter. As the helicopter neared, the wind from the propellers was unimaginable. It's different watching it in a movie. It's so awesome up close. A man hung from a cable as he was lowered down. He checked the injured man's condition and told us that they had to carry him out to the hospital. So, they lowered a gurney, and another man, as they prepped him, and sent him up to the helicopter. I stood there, holding the bike, shivvering from the cold, but all the while thinking about how cool this was.
The injured man's name was Santos and he was taken by helicopter to the hospital. His wife and the bike were also transported down the trail by truck. After they were taken, we began to run down the trail trying to move our muscles to get warm again. By now, the rain had stopped and the sun was peaking through the clouds.
We got to the bottom of the hill and met Santos's wife again. She looked at us, grabbed my hand, put her head on my shoulder, and said, "thank you so much," with tears in her eyes. (I promise I didn't overexaggerate the tears in her eyes) I just stood there and said, "It's okay, you're welcome, he's going to be fine, don't worry, we're just glad we were up there to help you. You must have helped someone else out to be so lucky!" She smiled and asked, "Can I give you a hug?" I answered, "of course, each one of us, one by one." She began to give all of us a hug, and when she hugged me, she really hugged me. It was the most genuine hug I had ever received. It was also an unforgettable experience and the look on that woman's face made it all worth while.
"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give" - Winston Churchill
Tip of the Day: Try to help someone when they're in need. Don't wait for them to ask for your help. This kind of act of kindness makes you feel like you're place here on Earth is full of purpose.
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