Police officers swear an oath to “protect and serve” their community – and one New York policeman fulfilled this creed while climbing a mountain nearly 3,000 miles from home.
Crossing the picturesque northern Cascade Mountains in Washington state turned out to be a dangerous emergency for Dave Mahabir, a Clarkstown police officer who was on vacation with his girlfriend. They were at 10,000 feet when they spotted a couple in need.
“I knew my leg broke right away because I heard it. And it was loud,” said Shel Dickman, who injured herself while she and her husband were climbing the trail. The couple were helped by two nurses and happened to be hiking.
“He was clearly broken. I see broken bones all the time so I know what they look like,” said nurse Evan Blomquist, who was helping Dickman.
The doctors had made a homemade splint, but they still had a problem: how to bring Dickman down the mountain. Then Mohab offered to help him.
“I sit down and say, ‘Just put it on my back.'” Mahabir said:
Another nurse, Jensen Hamilton, said, “If we had waited, it could have been five or six hours. By that time it’s already dark and you don’t know what happens when it gets dark on the mountain.” who helped. “So I think we were all like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to do that. We will foil it. “
That’s what they did. Blomquist and Officer Mahabir took turns carrying 58-year-old Dickman more than three miles down the mountain until they reached a rescue vehicle.
“My legs are trembling, they are trembling,” said the police officer, “but like I said: we had to do what we had to do.”
The Dickmans were so grateful for their heroism that they sent handwritten thank-you notes and a letter to the police chief in Clarkstown. Scott Dickman said he told the chief of police that “this is proof that there is still good in the world.”
Sheryl Dickman said, “Words couldn’t say how grateful I am to Evan and Dave. They were angelic.”
In hindsight, Maper said, he couldn’t believe he was able to go down the mountain. But his adrenaline, his cop training, and his heart made it happen.
“They are just people helping people. I think for us police officers, help comes naturally. It feels natural,” he said.