Artist Eastling isn’t exactly sure why he took his company up on an offer to get emergency medical training.
But he has a good idea what placed him at Guaranteed Rate Stadium Tuesday night when a speeding car barreled into a crowd of people.
“It was God’s calling,” Eastling said Wednesday. “When you see someone in need, you help them. You don’t turn your back on them.”
Eastling said he quickly applied a tourniquet on a man’s bleeding leg and checked on other people before paramedics arrived within minutes. “The officers tried to hold me back at first, but they let me help when I told them about my EMS training,” he said.
Eastling, 57, was there to see the White Sox play the Texas Rangers. A driver heading east on 35th Street suddenly sped down the street and hit at least four people near Shields around 6:30 p.m., according to police.
One of the victims flew over the hood and became lodged in the sunroof as the car sped away down the Dan Ryan Expressway, where it was stopped at 46th Street. Four people in the car were taken into custody and transported to hospitals.
“I was about 7 feet away when I saw the first man get hit and then sent through the sunroof,” Eastling said. “He was going at least 60 or better. If you hit someone and they’re stuck in your sunroof, you know you’re supposed to stop. [The driver] just kept going.”
That man was taken in serious condition to the University of Chicago Medical Center. A woman and two men were also hit.
“The lady hit a bus stop pole and was bleeding very heavily,” Eastling said. “One guy was hit, bam, and then he rolled over the car, that’s how the windshield cracked. The other guy was trying to get out of the way when the driver swerved to him and knocked him to the curve, where he hit the back of his head.”
Eastling ripped a piece of cloth from one of the victim’s shirt to make a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.
The woman, 51, was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition and the men, 24 and 25, were taken to Stroger Hospital in fair and critical condition, police said.
“Everybody handled it to the best of their ability,” said Eastling, who’s from the West Side and works for Dakkota Integrated Services. “I give the emergency responders a 10 rating because they did exactly what they needed to do.”