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This story ran in the Desert Distpach last week, the local newspaper in Barstow, CA, where we grew up when we moved to the US.
I was surprised when I got the link to the online version from one of my high school classmates who lives in Barstow. The story ran the day before the 13 year anniversary of my DAD's death - January 8th, 2003.
I've reached out to Mr. Milton and plan to talk to him later this week. I am grateful along with my siblings that 36 years later, Mr. Milton remembers. I've never ever heard of my DAD referred to as a "hero" - the story emotional on some many levels.
BARSTOW — When Michael Milton was
passing through Barstow from San Diego to Detroit in September 1980, he would
have never guessed the trip would impact the rest of his life.
Milton was 21
at the time. He had been discharged from the Navy and was heading home to
Michigan. But a broken radiator hose stranded him in Baker on the side of
Interstate 15 just after midnight. In need of help, he believed assistance had
arrived when about four motorcycles pulled over.
With the roadway
not lit, all Milton, now 58, saw at the time were silhouettes behind the
headlights of the motorcycles.
“ The light was
shining bright in my face as I’m walking up to the bikes,” he recalls. “As I
walked up I was telling the guys that my car broke down and I need help. I
remember there being some of the guys on the bikes with a girl sitting behind
them. And I don’t know if one of these guys was trying to prove something to
these girls, because he called me the N word.”
Then Milton
remembers the man throwing a punch. Milton blocked it, but then was stabbed in
the stomach.
“Then I backed
up and one of the girls says, ‘What did you do that for?” he said. “Then the
guy hopped on his bike and sped off. I ran to my car in hopes to chase them
down and run him off the road. I tried to catch up to them but then my engine
blew up.”
Stranded in
the middle of nowhere, Milton had no choice but to start jogging for help. He
said he later came across a parked Volkswagen van and went to ask for help.
Milton
remembers the driver being leery at first and simply cracking the window about
an inch and asking what the problem was. Milton said he had been stabbed,
pulled up his shirt to show the stab wound to the stomach and his clothes
drenched in blood.
The two men
let him inside the van. They had a CB radio and called for help. The men in the
van then drove Milton to a gas station at Rasor Road.
Milton
remembers being airlifted to Barstow Community Hospital, where he would later
undergo surgery. Milton doesn’t remember much after that, other than waking up
with tubes in his body and being in immense pain.
Milton said he
is grateful to Dr. Rogelio Arosemena, who retired in 1995 after practicing
medicine in Barstow for 25 years, according to previous reports.
When Milton
was told his job was sending him to Barstow for a week, he thought he would
have the opportunity to find Dr. Arosemena and thank him for saving his life.
But after a
bit of research Milton said he was devastated to learn Dr. Arosemena is dead.
Friday marks 13 years since Dr. Arosemena’s death. He lost a battle with cancer
on Jan. 8, 2003 and died peacefully at his home in Panama, according to
previous reports.
“He’s my hero
and it somewhat feels like his legacy lives through me because he saved my
life,” Milton said. “I’ve accomplished so much since the day I was stabbed.
"When I
was asked to come to Barstow, I was like, what? I then had to explain the story
to everyone and I really hoped to have the chance to meet Dr. Arosemena again.
I really wanted to thank him for saving my life. Without him I wouldn’t have
the career I’ve had.”
Milton was
unable to return home to Detroit for several months after being stabbed. He had
to stay in California to recover. Thanks to Dr. Arosemena, Milton said he was
later able to pass a physical to re-enlist to Navy, retire and now work for the
US Defense Logistics Agency as a Quality Assurance Specialist. Milton is
working at Marine Corps Logistics Base, Barstow for the week and will head back
home on Friday.
Milton said to
his knowledge, the biker who stabbed him has never been caught. After the
stabbing Milton went on to have three children, a son and two daughters, who
are now grown adults, and had a new take on life.
But the cherry
on top would have been the chance to thank the man who was simply doing his job
when he saved a young man in 1980.
