WINTHROP, MASS. (WHDH) - A good Samaritan sprang into action Saturday to save a 61-year-old man who was run over by his own van in a CVS parking lot in Winthrop.
When he saw the amount of blood the victim lost, Joe Bitopoulos didn’t think he’d survive.
“I thought he was going to die right there,” Bitopoulos said. “When I saw that amount of blood—like I said, I have no medical practice, but you only have so much.”
Bitopoulos said he was walking by when he saw the man get hit after getting out of his vehicle.
“I looked down and just saw blood everywhere,” Bitopoulos said. “First I froze, then just jumped in, took off my belt, did the tourniquet, kind of cussed and yelled at some ladies to call 911 and get first aid stuff from CVS.”
Bitopoulos said his training kicked in.
“Fortunately, my union—IBEW 22— 22 trains us for safety like this, so it was kind of just reacting to the training they give us through work, and we just did what we did,” he said.
Winthrop police and firefighters rushed to the scene and transported the victim to Massachusetts General Hospital with what were considered non-life-threatening injuries.
Bitopoulos said he’s glad other people were also able to help.
“It was a team effort, it wasn’t just me,” Bitpoulos said. “I’m just glad he’s alive.”
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