By Tim Weideman
Junction City Daily Union – October 1, 2013
Submitted by Newz Group Clipping Service – October 8, 2013
Colin McCarty is lucky to be alive.
On Aug. 10, the last thing he remembers before blacking out was being on the ground at the intersection of Sixth and Jackson streets, attempting to stand up and face the man who seconds earlier had sliced open his abdomen and neck.
But Colin couldn’t stand.
Colin’s friend, Erick Rollins, tackled the assailant before more damage could be done.
“Erick noticed something was wrong and he jumped on the guy before he came back at me and put him in a headlock and held him on the ground,” Colin said. “Then it finally dawned on me, you know, why is my leg not working? I looked down and I was holding my intestines in my left hand. From that point, I went into shock and I passed out.”
Colin, 20, of Sierra Vista, Ariz., was one of four people stabbed in the early morning hours of Aug. 10 near Sixth and Jackson streets in Junction City.
Without the help of a few strangers, what seemed like an almost immediate response from a Junction City police officer and about a four-minute wait for the paramedics to arrive, Colin probably wouldn’t be home right now healing in Arizona.
Colin’s older brother, Nathaniel McCarty, recently sent an email to Junction City officials to tell them of Colin’s recovery and to thank the police officers and EMTs who responded to the call that night.
Nathaniel, who also lives in Sierra Vista, is a former firefighter and currently is an officer for homeland security.
“It’s not only hard for the people that are there — the victims and the witnesses — but it’s also hard for the fire guys and the police,” he said in a phone interview. “So, the reason I sent the email was just to let them know how he was doing, how important it was for them to be there that night. Because they truly stepped in and were able to provide the aid that did save his life, I mean, kept him alive — assisted by the two Kansas guards who stopped, the gentleman who originally jumped in named Andrew Trammel and my brother’s good friend, Erick Rollins.”
Trammel, 28, of St. Louis, and Rollins, 22, a Fort Riley soldier, suffered cuts and stab wounds in the incident. Priscilla Mora, 25, of Junction City also was injured.
Mora and Trammel later were treated and released from Geary Community Hospital.
Due to what police initially called “possible life-threatening wounds,” Rollins and Colin had to be transported by fixed wing aircraft to Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka.
Two days later, that’s where Colin woke up.
Police said 34-year-old Jason Babylon is the man who stabbed Colin and the others that night. His case currently is pending in Geary County District Court.
The stabbing
Before his path crossed Babylon’s, Colin was preparing for a 1,500 mile road trip.
On Aug. 8, Colin set out for Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. He was about to begin his junior year of college and compete on the men’s golf team.
Before reaching his destination, Colin planned to make a stop at Fort Riley to visit Rollins, who soon would be setting out on his own journey.
“He was supposed to deploy to Afghanistan on Aug. 17,” Colin said during a recent phone interview. “And I was heading back to school at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on Aug. 8. I promised him this summer I would come up and see him before he deployed, so I just made a little detour up to Fort Riley to see him for the night. And I was planning on just heading out the next morning.”
Colin’s plan began to unravel soon after he and Rollins left an “over 18″ country and dance bar sometime around 2 a.m. Saturday morning. They decided to grab a bite to eat at Pancho’s, the 24-hour Mexican restaurant located at 419 W. Sixth St.
“We were sitting outside on the patio, talking to a few people we had met,” Colin said. “And two of the girls that we were with had started to head home. They lived just two blocks away, three blocks away and we were just going to walk back to their house and meet them there. And we could hear them across the street arguing with this guy, Babylon, from the patio and it just got me curious.”
One of the girls, standing in the area of the Sixth and Jackson streets intersection, called for Colin and Erick.
“And we ran over there and heard this guy, Jason Babylon, harassing and threatening the girls,” Colin said. “I just kind of stepped in and basically said, ‘Who are you to talk to a female like that?’ For me, that’s one of the biggest things that triggers my anger when a quote-unquote man is harassing a girl like that.”
Babylon turned his attention to Colin and charged.
Though Colin didn’t know it at the time, Babylon was armed with a small knife, which he used to slice through Colin’s skin as he ran past him.
Colin fell to the ground. When he struggled to turn around, get on his feet and face Babylon, his left leg gave out.
At that point, Rollins realized the severity of the situation.
Colin had suffered severe cuts to his neck and abdomen. He was holding his intestines in his hand.
After passing out, Colin said he remembers coming to and seeing 28-year-old Monte McWilliams and 26-year-old Ace Thompson, both members from the National Guard and from Salina, leaning next to him.
“The next thing I remember, one of the National Guardsmen, Monte, was slapping me in the face, telling me to keep my eyes open, stay with him, stay with him,” Colin said. “I passed out again and I woke up two days later in intensive care in Topeka.”
Strangers step in
McWilliams and Thompson were eating at Pancho’s. They had met Colin and Rollins just moments before they saw what appeared to be a fight in progress.
McWilliams, a graduate of Junction City High School, called out to Babylon.
“I was telling him to back off, get out of there,” he said in a phone interview.
Thompson got to Colin before McWilliams. He began applying pressure to Colin’s wounds while at the same time dialing 9-1-1.
At some point, Andrew Trammel was driving by and stopped his car to help.
“He said he saw somebody getting punched in the ribs on the ground, when really I was getting stabbed,” Colin said. “He said he really didn’t think about it, he just jumped out of his car, pushed the guy off of me and punched him. That’s when he got cut.”
Thompson said it wasn’t long before police arrived.
“As soon as they got there, they put their lights on Babylon,” Thompson said. “He got down on the ground. He already knew what to do, it seemed like. Then they took him away and it took a little longer for the paramedics to get there.”
Both Thompson and McWilliams recently had completed an annual combat lifesaver (CLS) class, which is a required part of their National Guard training.
Thompson remembered learning from the class that in situations like this, a high percentage of people die before getting to the hospital because of blood loss.
“I remembered that and all the training I had,” Thompson said. “I just thought, OK, this is what I need to do to help this guy. I think the training helps a lot.”
McWilliams said he also put his training to use without hesitation.
“Without thinking, I just kneeled down, applied pressure to his neck and made sure he kept his eyes open,” he said. “I was talking to him, telling him to stay alert.”
Colin stopped breathing moments before Junction City Fire Department crews arrived, about four minutes after the call went out from dispatch.
“That’s what everybody strives for is something under five minutes,” Nathaniel said. “Because in a truly emergency situation, oxygen loss to the brain can cause all kinds of problems. When you hit that five-minute mark, you’re really getting into that very dangerous territory. For them to be there within four to four-and-a-half minutes, to get him breathing again as fast as they did, just shows the level of training these guys have and the level of drive that they have is nothing short of the best guys I’ve ever worked with or the best guys I’ve ever seen.”
At some point in the night, Colin again stopped breathing. But both times firefighters were able to bring him back.
Forever thankful
After spending 19 days in Topeka, Colin returned home to Arizona.
Though Nathaniel described him as a “pincushion” with all the bruises and cuts still visible, he’s up and moving around at a rate much faster than doctors predicted.
“I’m walking much better,” Colin said. “I barely use my cane anymore.”
Colin said he still is in contact with the people he met that night.
Trammel texts him every so often to check how he’s doing. McWilliams and Thompson visited him while he was recovering
in Topeka.
“He kinda started tearing up and said, ‘I really don’t know what to say to you guys or how to thank you enough,’” Thompson said of their first encounter with Colin and the McCarty family following that night.
But Colin also is thankful to the law enforcement and fire department personnel who responded.
“I’ve always had huge respect for police, fire fighters and paramedics, partially because my brother was part of it and I know quite a few people who are,” Colin said. “But it has a little bit given me more respect for what they do because, like my brother said, if the paramedics hadn’t gotten there as fast as they did, like he said I had stopped breathing, I wouldn’t be here today.”
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Firefighters respond to call
The men of the JCFD who responded that night weren’t even sure of what they were heading into.
Information from dispatch stated they could expect to find a stabbing victim with minor injuries.
Instead they found four victims, two with life-threatening injuries.
“You’ve always got to be ready for not having the right information,” said Billy Thomas, one of the nine men JCFD sent to respond. “I mean, it’s at no fault to dispatch or anybody, you know. The caller may not give enough information and that’s not dispatch’s fault that we don’t end up with all the information we need to send the appropriate resources right off the bat.”
Initially, the fire department responded with one ambulance. But they later had to send another ambulance and a fire engine with additional men.
Luckily, Babylon had surrendered to police, allowing the firefighters to leap to action.
“You’re training does kick in,” said Lt. JR Reynolds, who also responded to the call. “But you also react to the situation you have.”
Fire Chief Kevin Royse said the crew’s actions were exemplary of the level of services the fire department can provide.
“That just reiterates the dedication and the effort and the training that we go through every day hopefully to have those kind of outcomes,” Royse said.
Most members of the JCFD are highly trained to provide both fire and medical services.
“In the last year, the majority of the fire department went into a transition into what’s known as an advanced EMT level of care, which is right underneath the level of care of a paramedic,” Royse said. “Almost 90 percent of our members can almost operate at the level of a paramedic, which for a department our size is unheard of within the state.”
The letter Nathaniel sent to Junction City officials found its way to the men who responded that night.
“It always means a lot to us,” Thomas said. “Letters or no letters, we have a job to do and what we did that night’s part of our job. But it’s always nice to know somebody notices the work that we do and we think we’re pretty good at what we do.”
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