related links: WHB Home Obituary Death Photos

HOME > IN MEMORY > WILLIAM H. BRUCE > DEATH

In Memory

My father: William H. Bruce

Death

When faced with an emergency situation, many observers lack the compassion and sensitivity to assist someone in trouble. Unfortunately, my father experienced this kind of lack of compassion, on the part of a United Airlines ticket agent named Lorenzo.

My father collapsed on August 1st and passed away on August 2nd from an intracerebral hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain). This happened while he was en route home from a State Department trip to Korea, while changing from his international to his domestic flight at San Francisco International Airport.

Our grief has only been compounded by anger over what happened after my father collapsed. Below I have included a description of those events as we understand them. While this may be upsetting to some of you (don't feel obligated to read it), I am sharing this with the hope that it will someday make a difference to someone in need of medical assistance.

If you ever witness and accident or a person in trouble, please take a moment to call 911. It is very possible that no one else will.

And if you haven't done so lately, please call your parents and/or loved ones and tell them that you love them.

*****

[Note: This is a mixture of recollections by a witness, Michael, and a fireman, Raphael. Most of this is from Michael's point of view. This may be slightly different from the version you've previously heard, and will be updated as more information is made available to us.]

We found out more information about what happened to my father from a witness who was so distressed by the whole event that he left his name and number with the hospital. Michael didn't see my father collapse, but arrived on the scene shortly (we hope) afterwards, and witnessed the absolutely bungled lack of assistance that was given to my father.

Michael is a businessman who frequently travels between the US and Beijing, and needed to have some adjustments made to his ticket. He was told to seek out a "tall man" (whom he later learned was named Lorenzo) who was the United Airlines ticket agent that could help him. Walking from the busier far right check-in gates to the more deserted ones on the far left of the airport, Michael spotted and approached the tall United Airlines ticket agent at approximately 1:20 PM. As he got close, Michael saw a man (my father) lying face down, spread-eagle on the baggage scale next to Lorenzo with a lot of vomit at his feet, his glasses and bags askew. My father looked like he had fallen uncontrollably.

At first Michael remarked to Lorenzo, "Is this person suffering from bad airline food?" Lorenzo didn't respond. Michael decided to step to the corner of the counter and have a closer look, and saw more severe signs that something was seriously wrong. My father's breathing was far from normal. Lorenzo seemed to be oblivious to my father's predicament. Michael looked around and saw no signs that anyone thought there was an emergency (there were very few people in the area, no one seemed to be coming or shouting for assistance) and the scene was so incongruous and extraordinary that Michael considered taking a photograph, but there was no film in his camera.

At that moment Lorenzo asked for Michael's ticket, and started processing his information. Michael assumed someone must have been called, but as he stood there working with the ticket agent, he wondered when emergency personnel were going to show up. As he was considering saying something to Lorenzo, a United Airlines employee happened to walk past (soon joined by a second) and they asked Lorenzo what was going on. Lorenzo (in a rather cavalier and dismissive tone, according to Michael) said, "This guy came walking out of the international terminal, and as he approached he seemed dizzy and off balance. I suggested he sit down. Before he could, the guy vomited and collapsed there on the scale."

Right then two airport security guards happened past, asked what was going on, and Lorenzo repeated his story verbatim. The security guards asked if Lorenzo had notified anyone and he indicated he hadn't. They suggested he call his supervisor, which he then did. Two youngish (late 20's, early 30's) supervisors came out, looked at my dad, looked at each other, and said, "What should we do?" Michael was astounded that no one seemed to be taking things seriously. The supervisors stood there discussing possible courses of action, and finally decided to call airport emergency.

A few minutes later two firemen from the airport fire department showed up with a general first aid kit. They asked Lorenzo what had happened, and he repeated the exact same story he'd told twice before. One of the firemen got out a clipboard and started doing paperwork. The other (Raphael) knelt down next to my father, rolled him onto his side, and proceeded to cut off his blazer. He then rolled my father onto his back [something you never do to someone who has vomited!] and turned away to rummage through his first aid kit. While Raphael was turned away, my father aspirated vomit out of his nose and mouth and began to convulse. Raphael turned back, saw the convulsions, and turned my father back on his side. Placing his thumb in my father's left hand, Raphael said, "Sir, if you can hear me, squeeze your left hand." My father immediately and firmly squeezed his left hand. Then Raphael placed his thumb in my father's right hand, asked my father to squeeze, but instead my father strongly and deliberately squeezed his left hand again. Raphael surmised that my father was paralyzed on his right side, and had squeezed his left hand again to show that he could hear and was trying to respond. Then Raphael got out an intravenous solution (Michael couldn't recall if the solution was actually applied).

At that point the two firemen began discussing what they should do. Someone contacted 911. Michael said that it wasn't until Emergency showed up that the whole scene turned from haphazard and casual to professional and efficient; the paramedics quickly rolled my father over, stabilized him, placed him on a gurney and took him to the hospital which was very close to the airport. Michael went back and marked time, and said that from the time he arrived 'til the time Emergency showed up and took my father away, at least 30 minutes had passed. We don't know how long my father was lying there unattended before Michael approached the counter.

Michael was disturbed by the whole thing for two reasons. One was the obvious lack of compassion and apparent complete dismissal on the part of Lorenzo (who had a phone at his desk in front of him), and the lack of professionalism, training, and initiative on the part of the security guards, the supervisors, and the firemen. Michael felt the paramedics should have been summoned immediately. [It's not like 911 isn't pounded into our brains since early childhood!] The second reason is that from my father's dress, baggage, and apparent demeanor, Michael felt a kinship with my father as a fellow professional traveler.

My mother, brother and I have talked this over, and while we are certain that the end result for my father (death instead of being a seriously impaired invalid) is best, we are extremely angry about the behavior on the part of the United Airlines ticket agent, his supervisors and the airport personnel (security not calling 911 either). We are also quite distressed to hear that, contrary to the conjecture of the doctors (who couldn't have known for sure ... we don't blame them), my father was indeed conscious and aware enough to have responded to the fireman. This means he was on some level aware that something wrong was happening to him. We are extremely saddened to know that he may have suffered, and that we weren't there for him in his final moments. [Raphael was apparently told by Lorenzo that my father said he wasn't feeling well just before he collapsed.]

This is yet another case which demonstrates how uncompassionate our "advanced" society has become.

WHB Home - Obituary - Death - Photos