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U.S. NEWS Thursday 8 June 2017

A miracle save by a homeless man gives him a new beginning

By WILSON RING Bristol was headed back to
Associated Press New Hampshire after drop-
WILLISTON, Vt. (AP) — ping off a load of footwear
James Pocock was living at a distribution center in
a quiet, under-the-radar Milton, Vermont. Doctors
life in the Vermont woods told him he suffered a mas-
when he suddenly was sive heart attack.
showered with attention Pocock heard the crash
and called a hero, respon- and ran to the scene. He
sible for possibly saving an- saw Bristol lying between
other man’s life. the seats of the truck, his
He’s grateful his unselfish face bloody after appar-
act may transform his life ently hitting the steering
for the better. wheel.
Pocock, 45, was sitting near With the help of two un-
his tent last month when he identified passers-by, he
heard a crash on Interstate pulled Bristol from the truck
89 in Williston. He rushed to and performed CPR on
the scene and used the him.
CPR skills he learned de- The next day, one of Bris-
cades ago to help revive In this Monday, June 5, 2017 photo, James Pocock poses for a photo in Williston, Vt. Pocock was tol’s sons and some of his
truck driver Paul Bristol, who honored by Williston officials after he helped save the life of a truck driver whose vehicle crashed grandchildren showed up
was stricken with a heart after suffering a heart attack near Pocock’s home in the woods. Local emergency officials said at Pocock’s camp with
that without Pocock’s help driver Paul Bristol would have died.
attack while behind the (AP Photo/Wilson Ring) cooking equipment, food,
wheel. a cot and a new pillow.
“To me, what James did, it since then, people are like, Pocock is a native of Can- left. He said he’s worked Several weeks later, a Wil-
seems like this whole thing ‘Oh, my gosh, there’s that ton, Ohio. He said he never as a prep cook and has liston Fire Department of-
was something like God- homeless guy. Roll down finished high school, but at times has had places to ficial invited Pocock to a
sent,” said Bristol, 68, who your window.’” got a GED in his early 20s. live. Whenever times get ceremony where he was
is back home with his fi- The Williston Fire Depart- He said he lived for years as tough, though, he retreats given a medal, recogniz-
ancee in Whitefield, New ment says Pocock’s fast ac- a nomad, crisscrossing the to his home in the woods. ing him for his actions.
Hampshire, but frequently tion prevented Bristol from country by hitchhiking with Pocock has always lived Within hours of the news
chats with Pocock. “Every- suffering irreversible brain long-haul truckers. He said alone, staying warm in the stories that followed, Lyn-
thing was right in line.” damage before rescue he became certified as an winter with the help of a nea Nichols of Middlebury
Pocock, who has been workers arrived and restart- emergency medical tech- military-grade Arctic sleep- set up a GoFundMe page.
homeless on and off for ed his heart using a defibril- nician while living in Califor- ing bag. When not working, As of Wednesday, the
years, has been living in a lator. They took Bristol to a nia in the early 1990s. he gets the basics by pan- fund had raised more than
hotel since last weekend hospital, where his blocked He arrived in Vermont handling. $13,000 from just under 300
after well-wishers heard of arteries were cleared. around 2003 and never Around 1:30 p.m. on May 4, people. q
the incident and raised the
money for the room. Efforts Court:
are now underway to find
him a home. Neighbors can sue pot grower for stinky smells
“When the accident hap-
pened, nobody knew who By KRISTEN WYATT The 10th U.S. Circuit Court warehouse would diminish and a three-judge appeals
I was. Associated Press of Appeals ruling revives a their land’s value by emit- panel agreed Wednesday
You’d go by and some- DENVER (AP) — A pot farm’s lawsuit between a Colo- ting “noxious odors” and that their claims should be
times people would lock neighbor can sue them for rado horse farm and a attracting unsavory visitors. heard. But the judges said
their doors, say ‘Oh, my smells and other nuisances neighboring marijuana- A federal district court dis- the Reillys can’t sue Colora-
gosh, there’s a homeless that could harm their prop- growing warehouse. The missed the Reillys’ claim, do to force the state to en-
person, lock your door,’” erty values, a federal ap- horse farm’s owners, the and the pot warehouse force federal drug law and
Pocock said, sitting in a peals court ruled Wednes- Reillys, sued in 2015, claim- opened in 2016. The horse not allow the pot ware-
chair in his tent. “Well, day. ing that the pot-growing farm owners appealed, house in the first place.q