Strangers Come To Bleeding Woman's Aid In Toms River

TOMS RIVER, NJ — It’s easy to think sometimes that society has lost all its compassion. But an incident that happened Saturday at the Acme in Toms River is a reminder that people do still care for their fellow human beings.

The incident happened about 5:45 p.m. on Saturday, when a woman fell in the parking lot at the Acme and Spirits Unlimited off Route 35 in Ortley Beach. Witnesses saw what happened and saw the woman bleeding significantly and called 911.

Before EMS arrived, however, multiple good Samaritans stepped in to help the injured woman, according to a witness who contacted Patch.

Toms River Emergency Medical Services responded, Patch confirmed with the Toms River Police Department. A manager at Acme also confirmed there was an incident but said company policy prohibited him from commenting.

The witness, who did not reply to a request for additional information, provided the following account of what happened after the woman fell:

“Within seconds two women (they were behind a table with two young girls selling Girl Scout cookies) ran to her aid, as she hit the pavement face down. She was bleeding profusely from her mouth and hands.

“A man ran over with wipes as the one woman grabbed paper towels to have her apply pressure to try and stop the bleeding. The other woman yelled that someone needed to call 911 for an ambulance and ran into Acme to see if they had first aid supplies at customer service,” the witness said.

Meanwhile, the Girl Scouts, with Troop 50015, gave the woman a blanket to help her keep warm, the witness said.

Inside Acme, an employee at the customer service desk gave the Samaritan supplies from the first aid boxes the store has behind the counter, which the Samaritan took outside to help the injured woman, the witness said.

“A young man an EMT from Lanoka Harbor grabbed his bag and proceeded to help the woman. Another young man from Spirit Liquors was offering to make sure the woman got back to her car if she decided to take the ambulance to the emergency room to get checked out,” the witness said.

“Knowing the concern everyone had for her well-being, the woman agreed to be taken to the hospital,” the witness said.

As she was about to leave, someone noticed the blanket given to her by the Girl Scouts was almost left behind, the witness said, “but they noticed it and yelled to make sure she took the blanket to keep her warm as it had been raining and the parking lot was still wet. The EMT quickly grabbed it and took it to the ambulance before it pulled away.”

“It was amazing to see this selfless act of kindness these strangers showed towards a woman in need,” the witness wrote.