A crash nearly took his life. A mystery hero saved him. Now the family wants to say thank you.
In a moment of chaos and pain on a Berea roadside in 2018, a life hung in the balance—and a stranger made all the difference.
Tony Sessin, a 33-year veteran of Cleveland EMS, found himself on the receiving end of emergency care after a horrific motorcycle crash on Bagley Road. The accident, which was not his fault, hurled him from his bike and left him with critical injuries. The most severe: a shattered leg, broken toes, and a rapidly worsening loss of blood.
But amid the chaos, someone stepped in. Someone unknown. Someone brave.
“It was a bystander. That’s what we’re assuming. And if it’s not a bystander, it’s an officer or a fireman,” said Jenny Sessin, Tony’s wife of 38 years. “Someone put a tourniquet on my husband’s leg, and it saved his life. I don’t care how you look at it. He’s alive. He might not have a leg in the end, but he’s here, and he’s alive. And we want to thank you personally from the bottom of our hearts. Please come forward so we can thank you.”
That quick-thinking act of applying a tourniquet quite literally bought Tony the time he needed to make it to the hospital alive. Even seasoned trauma doctors agreed—most people with such injuries don’t just lose limbs, they lose their lives.
Tony’s son Steven recalled what they were told at the hospital.
“The doctor even said people that have this kind of trauma to their leg, they don’t just lose their leg, they can die,” he said. “I know this [good Samaritan] would be welcomed easily. Everybody in my family would hug this guy. I just want to give him my personal thanks for keeping my father here right now.”
Tony’s family, deeply rooted in public service—his son a firefighter, his daughter serving in the Navy—are no strangers to sacrifice and saving lives. But this time, the roles reversed. A man who once raced to others’ emergencies found himself relying on the kindness and courage of a stranger.
“I have folders at home from people thanking him for what he’s done so this is my opportunity to thank someone out there for what they’ve done,” said Jenny. “He has a leg, but we don’t know how long. He’s a fighter, but if that tourniquet wasn’t there, I believe with all my heart he would have died.”
And so, the Sessin family continues their search—not just for answers, but for connection. For the chance to look someone in the eye and say thank you. To honor a secret Samaritan whose actions echo far beyond that morning on Bagley Road.
“You saved my husband. You saved my husband,” Jenny said. “Don’t think you’re not a hero. You are.”
Source:
- https://youtu.be/zN18TsHw6Pk?si=mt9XOIfwShtFPdjQ
- https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/cleveland-metro/family-searches-for-mystery-samaritan-that-saved-mans-life-then-disappeared
- https://app.pictory.ai/
- https://chatgpt.com/
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