Norwich students aid accident victims

By Kara Swarbrick
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

It's 4 a.m. A car has crashed in front of you and is now on fire. What do you do? For most the answer would be to keep a safe distance, call 911, and let the professionals take care of it. But for three Norwich University students who recently faced this situation, the answer would be the difference between life and death.

On Oct. 18, at approximately 4:20 a.m., Norwich students Michael Presti, Delmar Condinho and Stephen Kennedy said they were driving back on I-89 from watching a movie in Montpelier when a car sped past them.

According to the students, what they saw when they pulled off exit five for Northfield will be forever fixed in their minds.

"We came off exit 5, and right where the end of the exit meets the access road we saw glass all over the intersection and car parts all over the street," said Presti, 21, a senior, double major in business management and computer information systems, from Bedford, Mass. "I think right away we all knew what had happened."

Condinho, 24, a senior business management major from East Providence, R.I., was driving the car of cadets.

"I drove over the median and went halfway up the [southbound on-ramp] and saw a car flipped over with smoke coming out of it," said. "There was a truck driver putting out flames with an extinguisher."

According to the press release from the Vermont State Police, investigation revealed that the driver of the crashed car, Keith Capron, had been traveling southbound on I-89 at a high rate of speed when exiting the interstate at exit 5 and lost control of his vehicle.

Presti and Condinho ran from their vehicle toward the burning car in an attempt to help while Kennedy, 21, a junior criminal justice major from South Boston, Mass, called 911.

"We figured there was someone in the car, so, not really thinking, we just started punching and kicking at the glass, because we couldn't open either one of the doors," said Presti. "We were really nervous, because there was still smoke coming out of the car, and we thought it was going to explode."

Kennedy was the one to find the sole passenger, who, according to Kennedy, had been ejected from the vehicle "at least 200 feet."

"We thought he was dead," Presti said. "He was covered in blood and laying in the street like a rag doll."

After calling Condinho and Presti over for assistance, Kennedy and Condinho put their jackets over the man's chest and legs to keep him warm and also tried to keep his head and legs elevated to prevent the man from going into shock.

When the man made noise, the three men asked him about the possibility of other passengers and returned to the vehicle to search it and the surrounding area. After determining there were none, they returned to the injured man.

"We just did basic first aid and held the guy straight, because we didn't know if he had broken his back," said Condinho.

All three men had been trained in basic first aid and CPR from previous employment. Condinho was trained while serving as an infantryman in the United States Marine Corps; Presti was required to learn for a job as a security guard, and Kennedy had learned in JROTC.

"He kept trying to get up, so I put my foot on his chest to keep him down, because I didn't want to touch him, since there was blood everywhere," said Presti. "I told him 'Sir, you can't leave, you have to lay down,' to prevent his injuries from getting worse."

Officials told them they couldn't have asked for anything more than what the men did and praised them for doing everything they could for the driver, according to Presti.

Vermont State Trooper Robert Halpin, the second to arrive after Northfield Police Department, was in charge of investigating the accident and documenting and describing what witnesses told him. Despite still having to do the routine tasks involved, Halpin agreed that the three men did help to cut the time that would have been involved, by making the 911 call and by finding and helping the driver.

"The cops asked us right away if we were cadets," Condinho said.

"After four years [at Norwich] of always hearing about helping and doing the right thing, it eventually gets to you," Presti said. "We felt pretty good about ourselves after doing what we did, especially when one of [the officers] told us that this was the behavior they expected from a Norwich cadet, and I think any cadet at this school would have done the same thing."

According to Kennedy, at no point did they think about not stopping and helping; it was all automatic.

"Looking back on it, in some ways it was kind of stupid of us to run up to a burning car like that, but all I could picture was it being one of my rook buddies," Presti said.

"I was automatically thinking it might have been somebody from school heading off exit 5," Condinho said. "That was the first thing in my mind."

Although this was not the first time any of them had experienced a serious accident, the cadets said that images that they saw that night are forever imbedded in their minds.

"He could barely talk; I thought his jaw was broken," Kennedy said. "His face was just a bloody mess."

"I can still picture his face. It was covered in blood," Presti said. "It's such a scary image, I'm never going to forget it. You only have to see that once and you never forget it."

"His face just looked broken," Condinho said.

Capron was found to be under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident and was subsequently charged with driving under the influence, according to the press release.

The cadets who witnessed the aftermath of Capron's decision to drive while intoxicated said that they have a message for any student who thinks about getting behind the wheel after drinking.

"Don't drink and drive," Condinho said. "Seeing a car upside-down with fire coming out of it, alcohol everywhere, and a guy practically dead opens your eyes to a lot. You think you're young and indestructible, but the guy was only around 30-years-old."

"Definitely wear your seatbelt," Kennedy said.

Capron was transported to CVH and was treated for his injuries, says the press release. He was scheduled to appear in Orange County Court on November 4 to answer to the charge of DUI.

Officer Halpin simply described the Norwich cadets as "good bystanders that actually decided to stop and help."

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