HOUSTON – Army Sgt. First Class Nicholas Laye thought he had only a couple of seconds to live, not while on the job, but lying on Highway 288.
“I was pinned between the motorcycle and the truck at the time. It destroyed my entire right leg,” Laye said.
In January, while on his day off, Laye was riding his motorcycle and heading home when he said a truck suddenly cut him off, throwing him off the motorcycle.
“I called my 6-year-old daughter. (Told her I) love her and I don't know if I’m going to make it,” Laye said.
Seconds later, a woman driving by stopped and told Laye she was a nurse.
“She immediately looked at my leg and she identified that I needed a tourniquet on my leg,” Laye said.
The woman grabbed a bystander's belt and wrapped it around Laye's leg to stop the bleeding, then called 911.
Minutes later, paramedics arrived and the woman left without Laye having the chance to thank her.
“Had she not stopped or called 911 or put that tourniquet on my leg, I (would) not be here today,” Laye said.
After spending a month in the hospital and finally being able to walk again in June, Laye is now on a mission to find the woman who saved his life -- to thank her.
He's hoping that by speaking to KPRC, someone could lead him to her.
"Honestly, they say never drive faster than your guardian angel, and she was right there,” Laye said.