We were in a car accident, which could have been fatal, in Mexico, of all places. The 1987 Silverado rolled over one and a half times. Two people were seriously injured. Most people would have waited for an ambulance to do anything. But we are Boy Scouts. We knew what to do. We had what we needed. We were prepared for what to do.
A group of nine of us was on our way to La Paz, Mexico for a 4 day backpacking trip, in two vehicles. Our adult leaders were Don Melaragno, and Jose Gamez, and the youth were Rick Gamez, 17, Omar Gamez, 17, Mario Olivarez, 16, Ludwig Barragan, 17, Nick Valdez, 15, Gonzo Sanchez, 15, and myself, Ben Salinas, 16. All of us, except for Ludwig, had been in the troop for at least three years. Ludwig had transferred into the troop at the end of January, but we knew he could handle it because he was a boy scout in Mexico. Rick, Gonzo, Mario, and myself were in the Silverado driven by Mr. Gamez. Mr. Melaragno was driving the other youth, in his truck.
We had left McAllen, our home town, at 5:00 AM on March 15. Four and a half hours later, the Silverado lost control just outside of Monterrey. The truck immediately stopped as close as it could, which was about 200 yards away. They got out, and didn’t see anyone moving, and feared the worst.
Inside the car, we all finally comprehended what happened, when Mario yelled, “I smell smoke! Get out!” This truly woke me up, and I quickly analyzed the situation. I was not too injured. I could move. I noticed that the window next to me was broken halfway down. The rest of the window was shattered, but was held together by the tinting film. Had I been truly conscious, I probably wouldn’t have fit out of the window, but I went anyway. When I got out of the window, I saw my new yellow Nalgene water bottle. That brought joy to my eyes, until I looked down and saw Mr. Gamez, who looked knocked out. I immediately asked him if he was okay. He responded that he was fine, and wanted us to check on Rick, his son. I called out to see if everyone was okay. I received responses from Mario, who came out the same way I did, Mr. Gamez, who I could also see, and Rick, who was still in the car. I did not hear from Gonzo, but in a few moments, Gonzo came walking back. He had been wandering around the scene. He was also okay, but holding his arm. We sat him down in the truck’s passenger seat, while Ludwig started talking to the police, who arrived very promptly. All of this happened in less time then it took to read this.
Rick made it out of the car, but was immediately going into shock. We treated him for shock, and kept him covered with many blankets and sleeping bags. Mario and Ludwig had already gotten their First Aid kits out of their backpacks. I sneaked a look at Rick and noticed nothing wrong except for a rather large cut on his forehead. By this time, a somewhat large crowd was gathering around us, but this did not slow us down. Ludwig was still talking to the police and making all the arrangements. Omar, Nick and myself were cleaning up all the stuff that spilled out of the back of the car. Mario and Mr. Gamez were still tending to Rick. While digging through the debris, someone handed me my glasses, and I realized that I had not been banged up as bad as I thought I had. It was a relief to be able to see.
The ambulance took about 20 minutes to arrive. By that time, Gonzo had asked me to put a sling on his arm, and he and Rick were ready to go to the hospital. Ludwig decided to join them in the ambulance, although he was not injured, as the “official translator.” Mario went with them. Mr. Gamez had to go with the police. The rest of us were ready to follow the ambulance, but the police would not let us go. We followed Mr. Gamez down to the police substation, just up the street. There we met another man who also rolled over a few miles up the road from us. He was hardly injured, and his truck looked perfect. He had to go to the hospital, for a minor problem, so he was waiting for a taxi. We needed directions to the hospital, so we decided we would follow the taxi. The taxi took nearly 45 minutes to arrive. It took another 45 minutes to get to the hospital, due to a traffic jam.
When we arrived at the hospital, over 2 hours after the accident took place, we hurried inside where we saw Gonzo, with his arm in a sling, Ludwig, and Mario. Ludwig immediately gave us a brief as to what was going on. Gonzo had a fractured collar bone, so he just needed a sling. Rick had a more serious injury. They were calling in a specialist for him. Ludwig had already gotten a hold of Dr. Bob Olivarez, our troop’s scoutmaster, who had called the parents and the local consulate. Ludwig has also called the local Scout council. We had no idea where Mr. Gamez was.
After about an hour, a young lady entered the hospital wearing a scout uniform. She immediately saw us, as we were all in our uniforms, and told us she was there to help us. She helped us with the insurance and the paperwork, and then went and bought us lunch, which she did not want us to reimburse her for, even though we did.
During the next few hours over 15 people’s relatives arrived. Two relatives of Gonzo, the aunt and cousin of Mario’s mother, my great-great aunt and uncle, and Rick’s aunt and cousin all came to make sure we were okay, and to offer us their house, if we needed it. We had enough places to sleep, where each scout could have their own house. I was amazed by the hospitality of people we hardly knew.
We found out that Rick had “misplaced” two of his vertebrae. He would have to have surgery immediately; however Mr. Gamez was still with the police, and could not sign the release forms. Finally, at about 1:30, Mr. Gamez came to the hospital, with the police for about 30 minutes, to sign the papers, say hello and good-bye. We also had trouble with the insurance. The Sanborn’s insurance we had purchased, would not cover the hospital we were in. The doctors did not want to move Rick, and so they performed the procedure anyway.
Hours passed. We were all sitting around, keeping our spirits up over a game of cards. Ludwig was still running around making phone calls, and checking on the insurance. It was about 6:30 that evening, and we had to decide whether we were all going to stay the night, or we were going to return home. After talking to Dr. Olivarez, we decided to leave that night. We were waiting for Mr. Gamez to return from the police station. He had been there all day. We later found out that the insurance we had purchased, that came with “Bail Money,” would not pay for the bail money. Mr. Gamez’s local family ended up paying the $700 fine. We decided to leave at 8:15, whether Mr. Gamez was there or not. It turns out he wasn’t. His wife was arriving by bus at about 8:30, so we decided to leave Omar with Rick, his aunt and cousin.
We found out that Mr. Gamez arrived back at the hospital at 8:30. Shortly after that about 6 local scoutmasters arrived and stayed with them for several hours. Rick was released from the hospital a few days later, and by the end of spring break, he was home.
I was very touched by the hospitality we received from, in many cases, complete strangers. In 2002 when we went on this trip we were hiking in the most extreme weather our guides, who had made the hike 30 times before, had ever seen. We were bombarded with strong winds and rain the entire time. Most people would not go back after having two years of bad luck. We are planning on going back next year, by bus, because we are not like most people. We are boy scouts, and we live for the challenge. We learned more on March 15th, and put more of our skills to practice, than ever before. We are ready to face the challenge.