Good samaritan helps Omaha biker in need after accident

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - An Omaha man is recovering from a brain injury after a bike accident. His sister says she doesn’t know what would have happened if a stranger hadn’t found him.

“Yeah, I don’t even want to think about that.”

Just like any other day, Marci’s younger brother Brian left for his bike ride in the afternoon.

“There he goes. 1:41 is when he left for his bike ride.”

It wasn’t until the next day, Marci realized he never came home.

“He carries no ID on him.”

She posted on the Nextdoor app, asking if anyone had seen Brian. Someone had, he’d been in an accident.

They gave Marci the number of a paramedic who had responded to the scene.

”I called him and he said yes, I took care of your brother. He’s at the Med Center. I said is he alive and he said yes.”

Now, Marci knew where Brian was but little more, that is until a stranger named John commented on her post.

“Here’s my phone number, call me. I know what happened to your brother.”

John told Marci he had been riding his own bike that day when he passed her brother going the opposite way. Something came over John and told him to look back, that’s when he saw Brian, lying in the street bleeding.

“His breathing was breathing like I had never heard, just really heavy and scary. So I called 911,” said John Drelicharz.

John stayed with Brian, trying to comfort him until help got there.

“I knew when I found him, it was the scariest thing I had ever seen,” said John.

It’s now been three weeks since the bike accident and Brian is still recovering.

“Sustained a skull fracture, he was bleeding in his brain, he broke the orbital bone around his right eye. He has multiple fractures in his face on the right side,” said Marci.

The injuries are all because Brian wasn’t wearing a helmet, something John knows a little about.

“Always wear a helmet, your guardian angel.”

Five years ago, John woke up in the hospital after a similar bike crash. Someone helped him the way he helped Brian, left him that note and a gift card.

“So what I did was I paid it forward and bought Brian a gift card for a helmet,” said John.

The two strangers are now connected, an accident turned into an opportunity for kindness.

“It brought tears to my eyes when he told me, he was going to pay it forward,” said Marci.

Doctors say Brian’s brain should be recovered by Christmas time.

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