Brenda Biemann didn’t expect to try and save a life on her way home from her job one pleasant summer evening. But that’s what happened when she and her husband stopped at the scene of an accident.
Around 5 p.m. on Aug. 8, Brenda and her husband, Klaus, were driving toward Kensington when they saw the tail end of the collision that claimed the life of a motorcyclist on Route 2.
“We caught the last roll and pulled over,” said Biemann, describing how they saw the motorcycle roll over its rider.
She and Klaus got out to see what they could do to help.
A 52-year-old New Brunswick man was riding his motorcycle when the bike collided with a pickup truck at the top of the hill on the west side of Hunter River, said RCMP statements.
On her way to see what she could do, Biemann met up with a doctor who also got out of his vehicle to offer help. He was on his way to work a shift at the Prince County hospital when he stopped at the scene.
He put Biemann to work cutting away the man’s shirt while he retrieved his doctor’s bag from his car.
She can’t remember the doctor’s name, but together they did what they could at the side of the road.
“I knew it was bad. I kept saying to him, ‘Hang on, hang on.’”
-Brenda Biemann
They didn’t take off his helmet and administered modified CPR until emergency staff arrived.
“I knew it was bad,” said Biemann. “I kept saying to him, ‘Hang on, hang on.’”
Soon, Island EMS, the New Glasgow Fire Department and RCMP arrived and took over.
Biemann was surprised at herself for remaining so calm in what she described as an “organized but chaotic” situation.
But what she experienced is sinking in now.
“It didn’t hit me until after. It was not the nicest thing to see.”
The victim, Wood, was vacationing on P.E.I. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Donna Eagles is mourning his loss as a long-time volunteer and a member of the Christian Motorcyclists Association.
Eagles started the annual Atlanticade motorcycle festival with co-organizer Dale Hicks 13 years ago. Wood been volunteering since the beginning alongside the Christian riders.
“Regardless if it’s raining or sunshine… he can be depended on to be there and do what is asked of him with a smile and a joke and good humour,” said Eagles.
Wood’s death is a blow to her and all those who knew him, but that he was killed while riding only makes the pain harder to bear, she said.
“It is a great loss to the motorcycle community. He was a great man, a great human being – he will be greatly missed.”
A memorial service for Wood was held Thursday, Aug. 15 at the York Funeral Home in Fredericton, N.B. Donations in his memory can be made to the Samaritan’s Purse organization.
