Doug Ritter of Knife Rights recently sent out an article that appeared in the August 28 issue of the LA Times in the Knife Rights newsletter. It concerns the death of an 11-month-child in a burning car. One man was there quick enough that he might have saved the child. However, the car seat the child was strapped into by a seat belt held the child captive in the burning auto. The buckle was too hot for him to unfasten and he could not remove the baby from the car.
He did not have a knife to cut the seat belt. He asked folks at the scene of the crash if anyone had a knife. No one had a knife. One man ran to get one, but by the time he returned, the entire car was engulfed in flames and rescue was impossible. The article included a photo of a hero, Salvadore Martinez, his hands and arms bandaged by burns caused by the fire and his attempted rescue.
The news article was well-written and included the fact that a life could have been saved had someone at the scene had a knife. I believe that in many instances that had a knife been available lives could have been saved. But the fact that no knife was available either augmented the severity of an accident or cost a life.
I wonder how many times tragic events like this happen and how often the fact that no knife was present has been omitted in the reporting of the accident?
NOTE: Thanks to Gary Boisen for passing this article along to me.
