CATALINA ISLAND, Calif. - A local firefighter rescued a man just minutes from death in California after a bison attacked him.
Brentwood Firefighter, Jay Williams, was on vacation in California. He had just set off on a 3-day hike with friends from the area, when they came across Chris Baker.
“When he said 'I need help' and we said 'what do you need help with' and he said 'I just was gored by a bison' there was a momentary pause where we all just sort of stared at him thinking there was a punchline.
Williams and his friends quickly found out it wasn’t a joke. Baker stumbled upon the bison while was mapping out a new trail for the park. He came across the 3 off-duty firefighters, after he’d played dead for a while.
Among Williams’ group was one paramedic and two EMTs. They said for them, it was like responding to a much larger stab sound. He Skyped with NewsChannel 5 Wednesday.
“It took both his hands and then we actually ended up padding it with one of our t shirts and more gauze and more trauma dressing and there was probably 3 or 4 layers just to stop it from bleeding,” said Williams.
The men found an open area and got Baker to the chopper without a minute to spare.
“He kind of barely made it to that landing zone he was just about to pass out and he felt really nauseous and he was just losing too much blood,” said Williams.
Because they were in the right place, at the right time, Baker will be alright, and Williams is just happy we don't deal with bison attacks back in Nashville.
“Yeah maybe they’re better kept on Catalina Island where there’s a part of an ocean between us and them,” Williams said laughing.
The three firefighters were rookies together in California before Williams moved to Tennessee.
They went to visit Baker in the hospital and said he's doing very well, despite a punctured lung, diaphragm, and broken ribs.
