UFC champ Weidman reportedly aids bleeding elderly neighbor
Chris Weidman may soon need to adopt the nickname "The Greatest American Hero" after he reportedly came to the aid — and perhaps helped save the life — of an elderly neighbor who was bleeding profusely after an accident in her home on Thursday.
According to UFC.com and MMAFighting.com, the UFC middleweight champion was home in New York awaiting the arrival of welterweight star Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson so he could pick him up at the airport, when an unfortunate flight delay may have ultimately saved someone's life.
As Weidman was in his car waiting to go pick up the fighter, he heard a strange noise coming from a neighbor's driveway during the middle of a torrential downpour.
"There was someone standing in their driveway on their phone in the middle of the rain," Weidman said.
He noticed that the person's body language wasn't that of someone talking on the phone normally, so he jumped in his car and drove over to see what was happening.
"She's completely drenched in blood, it was a nightmare scene. Blood is pouring out of her head," Weidman said.
His neighbor was a 94-year-old woman who had hit her head on a glass table while trying to feed her dog, Weidman said. With blood pouring out of her head, Weidman had to not only try to stop the bleeding but also call emergency services for help.
He dialed 911 repeatedly but kept getting transferred, he said, so Weidman called a friend who worked at a local precinct and told him to get someone out to him immediately.
At the same time, Weidman said he tried to keep his neighbor calm and give her medical attention while she obviously was frightened and panicked.
"I was trying to get her to calm down, talking about her dog and trying to change the subject. She kept saying she just wanted one more year to live, and I'm like, 'You're going to be fine, you're not dying today," Weidman said.
"And while this is happening, she's pounding blood out of her head. I grabbed a bunch of paper towels and I start holding it on her head. I'm getting bloody, but all the while I'm imagining that it was my grandma."
Finally, Weidman said, after about 20 minutes of waiting the paramedics showed up to help the woman, relieving him of his duties, although he stuck around until her daughter arrived home to let her know what happened.
"We don't know yet (if she's OK)," Weidman told MMAFighting.com. "I don't know, she went to the emergency room. She was still coherent when she was leaving, especially for a 94-year-old lady.
"I'm just happy that I was there at the right time," Weidman said.
