The “crazy coincidence of the grandfather on wheels” and how he was reunited with the man who saved his life

Brian Abram, 65, fell off his bike in 2013 and ended up submerged in a river after rolling down a drop.

In that harrowing moment, an unlikely hero jumped in to help keep his head above water and kept him awake until paramedics arrived.

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As a result of his injuries, Brian was paralyzed from the waist down.

The man who helped him, Stephen, watched the ambulance go that day thinking that the man he had tried to save had died.

Almost 10 years later, both have met again by chance.

After the accident, Brian began writing children’s stories. In them he presents himself as Grandad Wheels (grandpa on wheels).

With them he tries make children aware of disability.

The tour to present his latest book took him to visit Stephen’s daughter’s school.

Stephen told the BBC that when Emily told him about the visit, he went “pale”.

He immediately realized “who this writer was and that had survived“.

Brian Abram says it was a “crazy coincidence” that he met Stephen. (John Houlihan)

Stephen was camping when he heard a woman scream for help for a man submerged in a river.

When he got to the spot he noticed that Brian’s head was going in and out of the water, so he picked it up and he made sure he could breathe.

The writer was “too injured” to move, so he was kept awake until paramedics arrived.

They placed him on a stretcher to cross the river “and left in an ambulance.”

“I owe you my life”

“That was the last time I saw him,” he said.

the locals They told him that he “had not survived.”

“I was devastated by the news.”

However, Brian passed three weeks in a coma and a year in the hospitalbut he did survive the crash.

“I owe my life to Stephen and all the others who helped me that day,” said the writer from the primary school where he was presenting his book.

Still not knowing who the author was, Stephen ordered one of the copies for his daughter.

She was then shocked to realize that she had saved the perpetrator and when the school found out, she arranged a special meeting with Emily’s “superhero dad”.

Hero

“When we told the children our story, their jaws dropped,” he said.

Brian said he “couldn’t be happier” about the “crazy coincidence” who reunited the couple.

“I would have drowned if it wasn’t for Stephen keeping my head above water,” he added.

“The chance of me being at that school and your daughter buying a copy of the book must be ridiculously small.”

Stephen said that Emily had all the books from Grandad Wheels and “loves” to read about his adventures with his grandson.

He said the author was a “fantastic role model for young people” and praised the way it explains disability to children.

Source: Elcomercio