Staff Writer
WASHBURN – When it comes to neighbors, most people probably count on them for the occasional favor – watching the kids for an hour, house-sitting while you’re on vacation or perhaps the ever-popular summer barbecue.
But for Bob Mette and Kevin Schumacher, being neighborly took on a life-or-death meaning when Mette fell from a ladder in 2007, sustaining a serious injury in the fall.
“I’d set up my ladder to its full length – 26-27 feet – but couldn’t reach the top of my house windows. So I set up scaffolding and put the ladder on top,” explained Mette, who was attempting to put up shutters for his wife.
“I’ve been a carpenter for 27 years and never had anything like this happen,” he said.
The next thing Mette knew, he was on the ground and gushing blood, with part of the scaffolding on him.
“I’d given the phone to my daughter in case anything happened. They (daughters age 4 and 8) were screaming and didn’t know what to do,” said Mette, of his April 2007 accident.
Schumacher, who’s been Mette’s friend ever since moving across the road about three years ago, arrived home from work.
“He normally doesn’t come right home – goes to get kids, but that day he decided to stop and let the dogs out first. That’s when my daughter told Kevin and he came over and found me on the ground. He turned me over. I was throwing up blood. He stayed with me – had my older daughter take her siblings upstairs,” said Mette.
Mette said he was unconscious for most of what followed.
“I don’t remember much. I believe the Lord had a lot to do with it. Kevin prayed with me,” said Mette, who faded in and out of consciousness in the ambulance on the way to The Aroostook Medical Center.
Mette suffered severe head trauma from the fall, requiring about 100 stitches to close wounds on his face.
“I had two steel rods in my left wrist and pins, a severely damaged nose,” he said.
Mette said the best part of the story isn’t the fact Schumacher saved his life but what the off-duty Presque Isle police officer did after Mette was rushed to the hospital.
“The best part of the story he doesn’t tell anyone. When my wife and kids came home that night they have to deal with the blood. When I was unconscious, there was a huge puddle of blood. Kevin scrubbed and cleaned everything. He didn’t want my family to see – didn’t want them to have a mess to clean up,” said Mette, expressing his appreciation for all Kevin did for he and his family.
Mette credits Schumacher’s emergency training for saving his life.
“Without him, I probably wouldn’t be here,” said Mette.
A thank-you wasn’t enough, Mette said, so he suggested to Schumacher’s boss, Chief Naldo Gagnon of the PIPD, that Schumacher should receive a commendation for saving Mette’s life.
Schumacher was awarded a Letter of Commendation earlier this year for his ‘neighborly’ act of kindness.
“Officer Schumacher was instrumental in saving his neighbor’s life. Mr. Mette contacted me and told me his story, indicating something should be done to recognize such a wonderful act,” said Gagnon.
In the letter, Gagnon noted some of the actions that Schumacher took to save Mette’s life.
“You stopped to see what was happening and found your neighbor, Bob Mette, laying on the ground and unconscious with ahead wound and numerous other injuries. You called for an ambulance and noticed where a scaffolding pole had apparently punctured Bob’s forehead when he fell off a ladder, leaving a large hole in his head,” wrote Gagnon.
Realizing there was internal bleeding, and that Mette was choking on his own blood, Schumacher “continually scooped blood out of the wound,” even though it filled as fast as he scooped, the letter continued.
“You plugged the hole in Bob’s head with your fingers, repositioned his head to allow him to breath and kept talking to him until the ambulance arrived,” stated Gagnon.
According to Gagnon’s letter, emergency room doctors who treated Mette indicated Schumacher’s quick actions and extreme efforts “no doubtedly saved Bob’s life and kept him from drowning in his own blood.”
“I would like to extend my congratulations for a job well done,” concluded Gagnon, noting Schumacher represented the department well in his actions to save Mette.
“What got me out of it was Kevin. The Lord has something more planned for me. Doctors didn’t expect me to recover so completely, but I’m almost back to 100 percent,” said Mette. “Kevin not only did good for me, he made my kids’ trauma go away – told my wife to just go to the hospital. He stopped by the hospital and told me ‘you’ll do anything to get out of work.’ We’re even better friends now.”
OFFICER KEVIN SCHUMACHER, at center, of the Presque Isle Police Department, was presented a Letter of Commendation earlier this year for an off-duty act that saved the life of his neighbor, Robert Mette. Pictured with Schumacher, from left: Chief Naldo Gagnon, of the PIPD; and Sheriff James Madore, of the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office.
Photo courtesy of PIPD
