NORRIDGEWOCK, Maine — A Smithfield man involved in a car crash early Tuesday morning died several hours later at his home in Smithfield, according to police.
Somerset County Sheriff’s Dept. received a call at 2:45 a.m. of a single-vehicle crash on Main Street in Norridgewock near the fire department, Lt. Carl Gottardi of the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department said in a release Wednesday morning.
John Mosher, 54, of Smithfield lost control of his red 1994 Ford Mustang and slammed into a light post on the driver’s side of the car.
Gottardi said Mosher was checked at the scene by EMS Ambulance and was released at Mosher’s request. He had abrasions to his head and arm.
Less than four hours later, Mosher had died at his Smithfield residence.
The State Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an autopsy Wednesday to determine the cause of death. The accident is still under investigation, pending results from the Medical Examiner’s Office.
Tragic.
He will be missed.
So sorry for the loss. RIP sir.
i heard a simalar story once where 2 guys fighting , one falls hits head on jeep bumper , gets up , goes home , and a few hrs latter he dies
sounds like internal bleeding. who knows though, but a possibility.
so sad. RIP.
or “Talk and Die” syndrome, happens a lot with head injuries, where a person is fine, for hours, even days, then just drops dead all of a sudden. That’s why it’s so extremely important to get yourself checked after an accident, even if you feel fine.
Very sad, very sad indeed…
There was a similar accident/death in Disgusta a year or so ago.
This just shows anytime you hit your head you should take it seriously!!!!
I suspect this gentleman had no health insurance and was not just being a “tough old Yankee”. Sad outcome, but an understandable decision on his part, if this were the case.
When you have an auto accident, the auto policy is the first payer, not your medical insurer. He probably had an underlying health problem that caused him to lose control of his vehicle. Either way, it’s a sad thing for him and his family that he passed away like that.
That depends on his coverage. You’d be surprised how many people just carry liability when it comes to auto insurance, especially when the car they are insuring is 18 years old.
I learned my lesson on that a long time ago. I have full coverage on all three vehicles. All are ten or more years older and all have well over 100k on it. I refuse to take chances with my family’s or my life. It’s cheap to have full coverage on older vehicles.
Life is nothing but a chance…May he rest in peace…
I wonder if he had no health insurance ? Pretty expensive to check into a hospital here in the USA. without it.
Agreed, but apparently this is the way we like it.
Who is we ?
Speak for yourself. I’m never going to give up the fight to make health care a right instead of a privilege.
If you have no money or just plainly living day to day on a weekly paycheck your just not going to decide to go the hospital, your going to way your options or wait Sad sad thought to have these days R.I.P MR. John Mosher
It’s a bit early to blame this on health insurance costs. I had a bad bump on the head when I was a kid and I knew others who went through more or less the same thing as I did. In my case I felt fine by the time we got to the ER. They let me go home but told my foster parents to keep me in their sight and don’t let me sleep for about 8 hours. Make sure I could talk coherently and wiggle my toes sort of thing. My nephew fell out of a tree in 1978 and the folks at Balboa Naval Hospital gave more or less the same instructions. They just called it a “possible concussion” back then but made it clear that people can wind up dead if their simple instructions aren’t followed. Wouldn’t paramedics advise the same thing to people who won’t go to an ER?
EMS should always advise of the potential negative outcomes from refusing care. If the patient is not in a proper state of mind to make a sound decision, they cannot allow him/her to refuse care. That means if there’s any type of impairment (injury or other) they need to ensure his safety regardless of his wishes. There are specific laws covering this that involves the police placing the person in “protective custody”.
A friend of my dad’s fell off a sidewalk one New Year’s Eve years ago and refused EMS and was dead the next morning of a large bleed. Given his intoxication level he never should have been allowed to make that poor decision.
Sometimes the patient gets somebody to vouch for them that they won’t be home alone. I know it can be difficult to keep somebody against their will in that case.
They do advise them. You can’t force an adult to do something they don’t want, unless they are a threat to others or themselves. Head injuries are tricky, and yes, he should have gone to the hospital but until the autopsy report is out, we don’t know if that’s how he died. Could have been a traumatic brain injury, or he could have torn his aorta if he hit the steering wheel, and bled out slowly. Sad outcome, though.
I’m suspecting TBI
i do believe they might of done just a little bit more convinceing of this man to head to the hospital,obviously he needed some help more then he thought,think about it ,he hit his head the man hit a light pole!I just think they should of known how messed up he was and probally didn’t know what he was saying!!!!
We don’t know how much convincing they did, and he’s an adult. Emergency personnel can’t force someone to go to the hospital.
Maybe a ruptured spleen?
R.I.P, and condolences to your family.