As his motorcycle careened out of control on a southern Indiana highway, Brandon Anderson said a silent prayer and prepared for the worst.
The lieutenant with the Fishers Fire Department and a high school buddy were on their way to Lake Cumberland in Kentucky on a summer day in 2016 when a truck in the right lane of U.S. 421 veered into the left lane, cutting off Anderson and sending him hurtling onto the pavement. His bike came down on top of him, crushing his right leg.
He could have bled to death on that road, but he reacted swiftly. He took off his belt with the intention of making a tourniquet. Meanwhile, his friend, an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer, grabbed a small trauma kit from his motorcycle, and the two went to work to control the bleeding.