一歩の差で命拾い

飛行中のヘリコプターからノート型パソコンが落ち、その真下には１０歳の少年がいた。　わずか数十センチ・・・

運が悪ければ・・・この子はもうこの世にいなかった。　そんなお話を紹介します。　　動画は：

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DinWpH_uKnI

“They made like a turn. Then when that happened it fell to the ground.”  

そしたらね、この辺におちてきたの。 

One more step and this 10-year-old’s story would be much different.

あともう一歩歩いていたら、この10歳の少年のストーリーはまったく異なったものになったかもしれない。

A laptop fell from a helicopter and landed inches away from him. The boy was spending some time at a family cookout last night when a medical helicopter was leaving St. Cloud Hospital. Somehow the crew left a laptop right there on the helicopter’s skid. Reg Chapman has more on this near miss.

ノトパソコンがヘリコプターから落ちて、地上にいた少年の目と鼻の先に落下。少年は家族と屋外料理を楽しんでいた。そのころドクターヘリが病院から離陸、どういうわけか乗組員がヘリの足にPCを置いたのだった。
“It fell about here and I was standing right here,” 10-year-old Grayson Peterka has pictures to back up a story
about  how a laptop fell from a medical helicopter and landed within inches of hitting him.

えっとね、この辺に落ちてきたの。僕はこの辺にいたの。10歳のグレイソンペターカ君は、パソコンが落ちてきたときの状況を語る。
“I heard the helicopter going by. It was pretty low and then they made like a turn. When that happened it fell to the ground,” .

Grayson said the computer made a loud sound when it hit the ground, almost like a gunshot. The 10-year-old’s aunt was nearby when she heard the same noise. とても大きな、まるで銃で撃った時のような音がしたの。　

‘What’s that?’ It was really loud and not more than two seconds later my little nephew comes around the corner and says ‘Aunt Laura, something just fell out of the sky and it almost hit me.'” . 

「なんなの？今の音」叔母のローラさんが叫んだ直後、少年が走ってきた。　「上から何か落ちてきたよ」

Colon said she went to take a look and couldn’t believe her eyes.

“We came around the side of the garage here and we found a laptop and it was most definitely something that fell. It was busted up pretty good. I looked on the back and I saw Life Link and I said ‘No way, that doesn’t happen.'”　現場に行ってみると壊れたパソコンが一台路上に。　裏にはLIFE　LINKの文字が。 「まさか、そんなこと起こるはずないわ」
The computer fell in the alley behind Colon’s home. It sits three blocks and across the Mississippi River from St. Cloud Hospital.
ミシシッピ川を越えて３ブロック先にセントクラウドという名の病院があった。
Hospital officials said Life Link III had just landed with a patient and was set to leave to pick up someone else when the crew’s computer was left on the helicopter’s skid. 　患者を下し、別の患者を運ぶため離陸する直前、乗組員がパソコンをヘリの脚部分に置いていた。

Colon called the hospital and within minutes a security officer was at her door.
コロン家が病院に電話したところ、すぐに関係者が謝りに来た。
“They were very apologetic.”  

Although the crew retrieved the computer, pieces of it still remain in the alley. Grayson’s dad said that the debris is a sober reminder of what could have happened. パソコンは回収されたが、破片が路上に少しのこっていた。　父親が語る。「その破片をみると、下手をすれば大惨事に至ったかもしれない事故だと思い知らされる。」

“At first you think it’s kind of, kind of humorous and then you think about it for a little bit and  ‘Wow, he could have really got hurt,'” .
「初めは笑っていたけれど、よくよく考えれば大けがしたかもしれない。」
Grayson was not hurt and he remembers the incident with a smile. He says he can’t wait to show pictures to his friends at school tomorrow.
グレイソン君は、その現場写真を明日学校へ持っていくのが待ち遠しいと語る。
Grayson’s family said they know how important the work Life Link crews do and they know leaving the computer on the helicopter’s skid was an honest mistake. The family is glad no one was hurt. さあ、翻訳家のｍｏｎｔｏさん、ここをどう訳します？　救急隊員のしごとは大変だし、大ごとにするつもりはない、パソコンの置き忘れなんてよくあること」という意味合いが込められてると我は思うのですが・・・

St. Cloud Hospital is investigating the incident. Well Reg, does the FAA(Federal Aviation Administration) get involved in a case like this?  Grayson’s family was told to expect a call from the FAA.  They will be looking into what happened with the St.Cloud attendants.

 この事件にも連邦航空局はからんでくるのでしょうか？　「ええ、病院側に調査した後、電話で報告するとグレイソン君一家に伝えたそうです」

Ah, I’m glad to see everyone smiling about it now.

 （当事者）みんなが笑って済ませられる結果になって良かったですね。

 (４月２１日　水曜サロンでとりあげました）