According to investigators a 26-year-old motorcyclist was killed Wednesday night on U.S. Highway 401, near Rolesville, when he ran a red light and hit a van. Authorities said at around 9:10 p.m., a van driven by a 16-year-old was traveling northbound on U.S. 401 and collided with a motorcycle driven by Braxton Lee Reynolds, of Raleigh.
Seconds later, Ashley Weatherly, a pre-med student on her way home from work, drove by.
Weatherly said “My first instinct was to jump, so I jumped out. He wasn’t breathing, he didn’t have a pulse, so I started giving him CPR.” She claims she pressed on trying to save Reynolds’ life.
“In the midst of the moment, adrenaline running, I was trained. I knew what I had to do, but it was still so hard,” Weatherly elaborated.
As she worked, others drove by or stopped to watch. “The amount of people who didn’t stop, that didn’t try to help – they just stood there, or they stopped their cars and got out and just looked. I mean, it was sad,” Weatherly said.
Eventually, police and EMS arrived and took over. However Reynolds was pronounced dead at the scene. But Weatherly said her conscience is clear. “There is nothing I would change about what I did. I did everything I knew to do,” she said. “It’s always good to know that you can try to help somebody.”
Because of her experience, Weatherly said she urges others to learn CPR, or to stop and call for help if you see someone in distress. “I understand that some people are too afraid, but you would want someone to help you if you were in that situation,” she said. “I just wish more people would try to help, or try to get to know what to do.”
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