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Motorcycle crash victim reunites with heroes who saved his life

Published 4:10 pm Wednesday, April 24, 2019

By Olivia Sullivan

Bernardo Barco, right, chats with Michael White, Kaitlyn Benson, and Anthony Guynes, left, who saw him flying through the air on I-5 and kept him alive until paramedics arrived. Olivia Sullivan/staff photo
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Bernardo Barco, right, chats with Michael White, Kaitlyn Benson, and Anthony Guynes, left, who saw him flying through the air on I-5 and kept him alive until paramedics arrived. Olivia Sullivan/staff photo

Bernardo Barco, right, chats with Michael White, Kaitlyn Benson, and Anthony Guynes, left, who saw him flying through the air on I-5 and kept him alive until paramedics arrived. Olivia Sullivan/staff photo
One of the doctors, Dr. Lisa McIntyre, who helped save Bernardo Barco’s life recounts how amazing it was when they were able to get his heart pumping on its own after it had stopped beating for five minutes. Haley Donwerth/staff photo
Bernardo Barco stood to speak to a large crowd gathered at South King Fire and Rescue Station 62 to honor the people who saved his life after a motorcycle accident left him without his right arm and left leg. Olivia Sullivan/staff photo
South King Fire and Rescue firefighters at the Station 62 reunion for Bernardo Barco and the heroes who saved his life. Haley Donwerth/staff photo
Kaitlyn Benson after receiving her award from SKFR for her heroic actions and a bouquet of roses from the Barco Family. Haley Donwerth/staff photo
Motorcycle crash victim reunites with heroes who saved his life

Medical professionals — including the ones who helped save his life on the side of Interstate 5 — did not think Bernardo Barco would survive after a motorcycle crash left him without his right arm and left leg and several injuries to his stomach and face on Dec. 21, 2018.

Four months later, Barco met his heroes as South King Fire and Rescue honored them on April 18 at Station 62.

This includes Michael White, a registered nurse who works at St. Anthony Hospital in Gig Harbor; his fiancée, Kaitlyn Benson, an EMT and emergency room tech at the same hospital; White’s parents, Larry and Teri; as well as Anthony Guynes, an emergency physician at Northwest Hospital. The White’s and Benson were traveling on I-5 when Benson saw Barco’s body “flying through the air.”

They, along with Guynes who happened to be driving by just after Barco’s crash, stopped to perform life-saving measures while waiting for help to arrive.

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