[rrumaner]

Earlier this year my wife and I were in Tampa during Gaspirilla before we went on a cruise. We went out to dinner with her family at a very popular restaurant which was so crowded that we had to wait outside.

While we were standing around talking to everyone, an elderly man proceeded to leave the parking lot to cross the inner two lanes and wait in the medium. Well he got about half way there when a motorcycle met the center pillar of his car at about 50-60 mph.

Fortunately for this guy, besides my being there, there were about a dozen cops, paramedics and nurses who were also waiting for dinner. It turns out that the restaurant was a real popular place to go after Gaspirilla and all these people were in full pirate costumes from participating in the float parade.

Anyway, the guy flew about 30 feet through the air, landed flat on his back and smacked his head on the road. He kept insisting that he had a helmet but a search of the entire area never turned up one. He was lucky though, he was able to move his arms and legs (at least until we strapped him down on the gurney).

The restaurant was real nice to everyone who helped this guy. We all ended up getting a free meal. It was their way of thanking us for being willing to help someone. It took me about 1/2 hour to stop shaking from the adrenalin rush.

Never did find out what happened to him, our cruise left the next day.