An Army NCO saved a fellow service member's life last month after finding an airman bleeding profusely from a head wound after the Korean American Friendship festival in downtown Songtan, South Korea, according to an Army press release.
Sgt. 1st Class Darrick Geathers, a signal support specialist supervisor for the 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade at Osan Air Base, was driving up to his apartment complex when he happened upon an airman on his knees and trying to use the entry keypad.
"It was night time and I couldn't really see much. I thought maybe he was drunk or had gotten sick, but I called out to him just to check and see if he was okay," Geathers said, according to the release. "That's when I noticed the pool of blood under him, and that it was all coming from a very serious gash to his head."
Geathers' training and experience kicked in, and he ripped off his shirt and put pressure on the wound of the airman from the 51st Operations Support Squadron. Since he needed two hands, he was unable to call for an ambulance, so he yelled for help and another man responded. But because of a communications barrier, Geathers said, it took around an hour for the Korean emergency responders to arrive.
The injured airman lost consciousness shortly after responders arrived. But a month later, he has recovered enough to return to work. It was unclear in the Army news release as to what caused the airman's injury. His commanding officer, Air Force Lt. Col. Jason Jensen, said the airman was lucky to be alive and credited Geathers. He also him a coin of excellence.
"There's nothing wrong with asking someone if they're okay," Jensen said in the release. "The only thing wrong is assuming that someone else will do it [assuming] that it's not your responsibility."
Geathers, who followed his father (Air Force) and mother (Navy) into the service, deflected credit.
"It doesn't matter who it was. It was a human being in need of help. I would want someone to do that for me if I needed it. Even if I didn't think I did," said Geathers. "It doesn't take a hero; it just takes some courage to do the right thing."
