Marine Makes T-Shirt Tourniquet, Helps Injured Girl On Freeway

DANVILLE, CA — A Danville man and U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve member was recognized by the Dublin chapter of the California Highway Patrol for stopping along a highway and using his combat first aid training to help a young girl and her father injured in a crash.

Sgt. Kristopher Gallinatti, 26, said he was heading to a Fremont line dancing event on the evening of Feb. 1 when he got stuck in slow traffic on Interstate 680. He figured an accident was ahead.

Gallinatti was driving in the fast lane when he spotted cars parked in the shoulder and fast lane near Vargas Road, so he stopped and asked if anyone needed help.

They did. Gallinatti stumbled upon a grisly scene: A father and daughter injured in a car crash were covered in blood, he said.

He pulled up behind the cars to provide a barrier for a 9-year-old girl sitting in an SUV tailgate and her father, sitting disoriented on the ground.

A woman had already stopped to help and brought a first aid kit, but she wasn't sure what to do with it, Gallinatti said. The girl was screaming and crying, having suffered an injury below her knee.

Gallinatti, who served four years as an active-duty Marine, said his training kicked in. He created a tourniquet out of a T-shirt and applied it to the girl's leg. Much of the bleeding stopped, he said. Gallinatti asked the woman to distract the girl, keeping her attention off of her wound.

He then turned his attention to the girl's father, who couldn't stand and had slurred speech, Gallinatti said. He had apparently suffered a concussion. Gallinatti asked the man's friend to speak to him, keeping him awake and alert until more help could arrive.

Help soon came. A CHP officer arrived and ran over with a triage kit. Gallinatti told the officer that he was trained to render emergency aid, freeing up the officer to attend to the scene. Gallinatti said he started cleaning their wounds until medics arrived and took over.

CHP was so impressed by Gallinatti's quick work that the Dublin office recognized him with a Commander's Certificate of Commendation on Feb. 12.

Cmdr. Christopher Sherry said in an emailed statement that he expects officers to stop on the side of a freeway and intervene to render aid in an emergency situation, and he was proud that Gallinatti put his training into use.

"I am very impressed this young man had the bravery, initiative and commitment to helping others as he stopped to assist," Sherry wrote. "His actions highlight the good in humanity.”

Gallinatti, a sergeant working in logistics and maintenance in Sacramento, said he chalks the timing up to divine intervention. He's been called a hero, he said, but he was just following his training.

And after all the chaos of that evening, Gallinatti still managed to make it to line dancing on time.