MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis Light, Gas & Water employee is being hailed as a hero after he jumped into action to help an injured man he came across while working in an Uptown neighborhood.
Bobby Brown works in the gas department at MLGW.
“Anything can happen out here so you just have to be prepared,” Brown said.
A few weeks ago, Brown put his preparedness to the test. He was finishing up his work when he heard a loud boom.
He rushed to a nearby construction site, discovering a man badly injured. Several others were pulling him out of a hole. Brown thought quickly.
“When his leg got exposed with the injury, I just sprung into action. It was, I need a belt, I need a shirt, I need something to tie his leg off,” Brown said. “Once somebody handed me a belt, I applied a makeshift tourniquet to his leg.”
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Brown, who’s been with MLGW eight years, has on-the-job safety training. But he had some outside help in knowing what to do in this situation.
“Watching TV,” he said. “Watching Chicago PD, Chicago Fire and a lot of old movies, and so it was just, if it works on TV, let me see if it works in real life.”
And it did. The injured man was ready when an ambulance arrived.
“I had him prepped and ready to go just so they could place him on the board and get him out of there,” he said.
Brown says he felt compelled to help, and he has this message to others:
“Help people,” he said. “Don’t be afraid to help somebody. Don’t pull out your cell phone just to record to get likes on Instagram or Facebook. Please help somebody even if it’s somebody just crossing the street just help somebody.”
Brown has wanted to check on the injured worker to see how he’s doing. He doesn’t know who he is but hopes he can get connected to him.