Quick-thinking helps friend

On the afternoon of Sept. 15, Tim Bowers Jr. had just picked up his sister on his ATV at the bus stop when his friend Nathan Simons rode up on his dirt bike.

The three were headed back to the house when suddenly Nathan was flipped over the handlebars of the dirt bike, according to the 14-year-old Tim's mom, Heidi Bowers.

"Tim asked if Nathan was all right and Nathan said he felt blood," she said. "Tim rolled up Nathan's pant leg and he was squirting blood all over the place. Nathan busted an artery."

Showing some quick thinking, Tim took off his T-shirt and made a tourniquet and started yelling for help.

Neighbor Kelly Connelly came out and tended to Nathan while Tim called 911 and waited at the end of the road to guide the ambulance in.

"It was a good thing he had his cell phone," Bowers said.

"Nathan ended up having three fractures from ankle to knee. He was taken to Washoe Medical Center and rushed into surgery. They put pins in his leg."

The Bowers live at the base of the Pine Nut Mountains between Fish Springs and Ruhenstroth.

"It is very scary to think what could have happened," Bowers said. "But my son's had nine years of martial arts, and they've discussed issues like first aid."

The Bowers family has lived in the Carson Valley for 13 years. Tim and Nathan both attend Pau-Wa-Lu Middle School where Tim is a ninth-grader.