South Bend Tribune
May Lee Johnson
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Thomas Rousculp owes his life to a trio of South Bend men who saved him after a terrible bicycling accident more than 50 years ago.
But it had been nearly that long since the 62-year-old Rousculp, now of Springfield, Ohio, had talked to the police officer and two boyhood companions who came to his rescue back on Sept. 10, 1961.
The trio prevented the 13-year-old Rousculp from bleeding to death after he tumbled through a plate glass window and severed his jugular vein and windpipe.
The rescuers were the now- retired South Bend officer Daniel Niedbalski, and Rousculp’s friends, William Crum and John Staton, both 14 at the time.
All came together last Sunday at the Irish Hills Apartments Community Room at the invitation of Rousculp’s sister, Natalie Kiefer, of South Bend. She knew her brother would be visiting for Christmas and decided to get on the phone and set up a reunion.
“It was Black Friday and I was thinking about what had happened to my brother years ago,” Kiefer said. “If they hadn’t been there (at the accident scene), my brother might not have been here today.”
Indeed, it was the quick action of this trio that saved Rousculp’s life, doctors said at the time.
Actually, the teenage Rousculp was grounded at his Portage Avenue home that day, but when Crum and Staton stopped by on their way to a store to buy bean shooters, Rousculp decided to go along.
“The bike I was riding was not mine and I wasn’t used to riding it,” he recalled. “Anyway, I was riding the bike across Lincoln Way when I just couldn’t keep the bike balanced. I went crashing through and back out the window.”
The window belonged to the Swank Dry Cleaning Co. branch at 2316 Lincoln Way W.
According to the story the following day in The Tribune, Rousculp started to run from the scene with blood spurting from his neck before Staton caught and held him.
Meanwhile, Crum looked for help and, luckily, spotted and hailed officer Niedbalski, who was stopped at a nearby traffic light.
The officer went to Rousculp’s aid, pressing Crum’s T-shirt against the Rousculp’s bleeding throat.
Then, the story reported, “Niedbalski led the injured boy to the police car, and holding the bandage in place with one hand, drove to the hospital. At the hospital, doctors performed tracheotomy to keep the windpipe open while the vein was rejoined.
The doctors commended Niedbalski on his decision not to wait for an ambulance. Delay might have caused death, they said, “noting that a rupture of the jugular vein can cause fatal bleeding in a short time.”
The story also noted that “fast work by the lad’s two companions also figured in the emergency.”
Staton remembers catching up to Rousculp.
“Tom was trying to run, but I grabbed him and held on to him,” Staton said. “He was holding his throat and blood was everywhere.”
Crum said that for a moment after the accident “me and John just stood at the scene, sort of confused as to what had just happened to Tom.”
But, he added, “It is amazing what kids are capable of doing in an emergency.”
Crum said he lost touch with Rousculp after the accident. “I have often wondered how he was doing. It was great to be here today and reconnect with him.”
The reunion was the first time Rousculp saw his old friends since they visited him at Memorial Hospital days following the accident.
Rousculp encountered Niedbalski one other time, a few years later “when I got into a little trouble.”
Reflecting on the accident, Rousculp remembered that “I was awake the whole time but I was unable to speak. But both William and John helped me until the police got there and he took me to the hospital. I think it’s fair to say they saved my life.”
He hugged the other three at the emotional gathering and thanked them for their bravery and extraordinary efforts. He called them all heroes, but Niedbalski, now 82, said he doesn’t consider himself one.
“I feel good that I could help out, but I don’t feel like a hero,” Niedbalski said. “I saw the situation and there was no way I could sit back and not help. But these two other men did as much as I did. They flagged me down and I’m just glad I was there to help get him to the hospital.”
The men have formed a new friendship and say they plan to keep in touch.
Rousculp, who was the third of 10 children, attended Muessel Elementary and Central High schools. He moved from South Bend in 1979.
He hasn’t completely overcome the accident. He wears a scar on his throat and speaks in a raspy voice caused by scar tissue and follow-up surgeries.
Rousculp said people ask him all the time about his voice and scar “but I have learned to live with it.”
“All I can say is that the good Lord looked out for me through the guiding hands of these three men.”
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