Off-duty Little Rock airmen called heroes after responding to near-deadly motorcycle crash

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Two off-duty airmen serving at the Little Rock Air Force Base said they reacted on impulse when they were the first to respond to a near-deadly motorcycle crash last month.

Staff Sergeant Erik Hill said he was leaving work in uniform right behind a pickup truck when he saw the truck cut a motorcyclist off and hit him on State Highway 321 in Cabot on July 24.

Hill said that’s when his instincts took over.

“It was not a thought of whether or not I needed to do something,” he said. “It was what I needed to do.”

While Hill saw the crash from his car, Staff Sergeant Brandon Binder and his wife heard it from their backyard, and he did what he was trained to do.

“She just looked at me and said, ‘That was a bad one.’ She hurried up and got out there, and I got our medkit and followed after her,” Binder said.

The airmen helped other first responders until the motorcyclist was airlifted to a hospital.

When the 314th Airlift Wing put out a post about Sgt. Hill responding in uniform, they also learned of Sgt. Binder’s involvement out of uniform. Then a relative of the motorcyclist, Timothy Holtgeerts, connected him with the men he calls heroes.

“The doctors straight up told me if I hadn’t gotten care as quickly as I did, the chances of me being here are probably closer than zero than expected,” Holtgeerts said.

It was two days after the crash when Holtgeerts remembers waking up. He recovered in the hospital for two weeks with more than 20 plates and a rod keeping his leg and face together. He said he was surprised when doctors told him he could have a full recovery.

Holtgeerts and the airmen recently met and are planning a cookout sometime soon. He said their actions gave him more hope in humanity.

“As far as my kids, and me go, I’m sure my dad can attest to it, they are our heroes,” he said. “They kept me alive.”

The airmen would say they were doing what anyone should and were lucky to be where they were.

“We’re all human, and we all have that sense of we need to help others and not be that bystander to just witness it and say that’s terrible and just driving on,” Hill said.

Binder implored that the worst thing one can do when they’re a bystander is nothing. Even if it isn’t first aid, he encourages people to call 911, redirect traffic, or ask someone what to do if nothing else.

“If it was the other way around, you would want someone to help you,” Binder said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLRT - FOX16.com.