It was Memorial Day, and city firefighter and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Dennis Sardinha almost called out of work. From his second job, that is.
It was a good thing he didn’t, said Sardinha, who ended up clocking in May 27 as he would any other day shift at O’Reilly Auto Parts. Around 6:30 p.m., a motorcyclist crashed outside the Rhode Island Avenue business, he said.
Sardinha noticed a commotion and, armed with nothing but disposable latex gloves, went outside to assess the scene. Onlookers gathered around the injured motorcyclist, who was curled in the fetal position on the curb. Sardinha rolled the man onto his back and realized the man wasn’t breathing. “After 12 years on the job,” he said, referring to his tenure at the Fall River Fire Department, “this was a first for me.”