By Elizabeth Jenkins
Last year, a couple really good friends of mine went for a jog as they frequently do. They parted ways at the end of their run, heading to their homes to shower and carry on with the rest of their weekend. These two friends of mine, Jack and Earl, worked together and ran together often. As they parted ways, Jack assumed he would see Earl at work on Monday.
Monday rolled around and Earl didn’t show up to work. This was very unlike him. Jack tried calling him, but with no success. Jack got worried and went over to his home. His home looked as if he had never returned home from his run earlier in the weekend. Jack began to worry as anyone would. He began trying to reach anyone who might know where Earl could be.
Jack finally decided to call the hospital and see if he was by some chance there. Earl would have surely called Jack had something happened. Unless of course, he was unable to speak.
Jack found out that the hospital didn’t have any patients with the name Earl, but they did have a “John Doe” who they were working on identifying. Earl had a Garmin GPS watch that he had programed his birthdate into. The hospital was able to find his birth date and then cross reference with the DMV’s records to find a picture that looked like him. Once they were able to find a match, they began to call his family (all out of state). Jack went to the hospital and helped them to identify Earl. Crazy right? It would have been so much faster and easier had he had some sort of ID on him.
Apparently, Earl collapsed in the street from a heart attack shortly after saying goodbye to Jack after their run. A stranger found him and performed CPR until an ambulance came to pick him up. He had no identification on him and no one knew who he was, how old he was, if he had any allergies, etc.
Thankfully, and to the credit of amazing people like the strangers who found him and performed CPR, the medical professionals who knew just what to do, and the detective work that went into finding out who he was, he is alive and well today.
I tell this story as a reminder that everyone needs to have some sort of identification on them at all times. You never know when something might happen. Earl got REALLY lucky.
The day I heard about Earl, I went to roadID.com and purchased a bracelet with all my information on it. I frequently run and bike alone and having it on me makes me feel more safe. Also, my mom appreciates it.
Even if I were running with my best friends, they might not know my mom’s number or my allergies. It’s about being prepared for even the worst.
RoadID.com makes great products and they have a variety of different styles to choose from to suit your needs. They are affordable as well.
They have two basic models, the Road ID Original, like the one I have, or the Road ID Interactive. The interactive model requires calling a phone number and putting in a pin number to access the medial information. This is a great option for people who don’t want their information out and about, or if your medical history or condition is too long for the small space on the bracelet.
Thanks for reading this. I hope it encouraged you to be a little more prepared. Maybe you even went to purchase a roadID upon reading this. Maybe you already have one. If you do, WEAR IT!
Peace and blessings y’all.