University police Chief Ron Davidson and four members of the Blue Knights Texas IV, a law enforcement motorcycle club, were honored for their life-saving actions during a fatal motor accident on May 9.
Davidson, Hugo Garcia, James Aguilar, John Cozad and Byron Ratcliff received The Blue Knights Meritorious Service Award Saturday Sept. 28 for helping save the life of Sue Granby after a motorcycle accident. Recognition for the award came from state Rep. Ray Lopez, state Sen. Jose Menendez, City Council of the City of San Antonio and the Blue Knights organization.
Granby and her husband, Raul Granby, were traveling with the five members to a gathering for the Blue Knights, when they were involved in a collision with an 18-wheeler. The accident claimed the life of Raul and left Sue with critical injuries. Garcia, Aguilar, Cozad, Ratcliff and Davidson quickly assessed the situation while waiting for emergency assistance, said Xochitl Davis, Garcia’s sister.
Both Cozad and Aguilar positioned their motorcycles to divert traffic and prevent further injuries. Garcia used trauma kits to treat a compound fracture on Sue’s leg while Davidson applied a tourniquet to stop bleeding. Ratcliff, a registered nurse, continued patient assessment on Sue while waiting for emergency services to arrive. It was later learned that Sue had received damage to her femoral artery and would not have survived the accident if not for the tourniquet said Davis.
Davidson, who joined Texas A&M University-San Antonio in 2013, said he was grateful he had the proper training to help correctly identify the situation even though he had just lost his friend.
“Given what I’ve been through in almost 30 years of law enforcement and military, I knew what we needed to do,” Davidson said. “I didn’t know what we were gonna see, so I had to keep my head straight and take care of what I could.”
Sue Granby, who attended the event, said that she didn’t believe the awards were enough.
“How do you thank someone for saving your life?” Granby said. “These five heroes — because that’s what they are — are the reason why I’m here today, and that’s the God-darned truth.”
Lopez presented the awards to the five members during the ceremony. He said he made an effort to specifically be at the event by moving other priorities around.
“These folks are really superheroes,” Lopez said. “This is a celebration of life and friendship, and I just felt that it was important for me to move my calendar around to be able to be here and share my time with them. I’m honored that they asked me to do this.”
Lopez said he appreciates the love and support the members give each other.
“The only way to really survive these things is to have people around you that love you,” Lopez said. “It’s obvious that these folks have that here.”
The five members also celebrated the life of Raul during the event with a speech by Davidson that highlighted Raul’s character.
“He was a good man,” Davidson said. “He was just an awesome guy all around, and I don’t think we focused enough today that we lost a man that was better than me. He was a good man. He loved his friends, he loved his wife, he loved his family and he loved riding. He was a good man and we miss him very much.”
Sue Granby said Raul Granby would be proud and happy of his fellow Blue Knights members for their actions.
“He would be extremely grateful,” Granby said. “But knowing him, he would have said, ‘I expect nothing less from them because of the men they are.’”
She said she believes the actions of the five members were part of a higher power’s plan.
“They were there at that time because God placed them there to save me,” Granby said. “I don’t know why, but that’s what it was and I don’t know how to thank them enough for it.”
