Pictured: (left to right) Patient Archie Suse and Physical Therapist Alex Strouhal. Courtesy of HCA Florida Sarasota Doctors Hospital.

Alex Strouhal has been a physical therapist at HCA Florida Sarasota Doctors Hospital for more than 20 years. As an avid cyclist he rides his bike to and from work several times a week. He was riding home recently when he saw a car swerve, cross a lane of traffic and crash into a bridge. Behind the wheel was 85-year-old Archie Suse. He was on his way to pick up Chinese food for dinner when he blacked out and crashed. Alex immediately got off his bike, stopped traffic and helped the man in the car. He quickly assessed him, dialed 9-1-1 and stayed with him. Mr. Suse was brought to the emergency room at Sarasota Doctors Hospital. He wanted to find the man who helped him immediately after the crash, but only knew the man was on a bike and named “Alex.” The next day the physical therapist was doing assessments on patients in the emergency room. As he walked into the room he realized the patient looked familiar, the patient also recognized the physical therapist as the man who had helped him after the crash. The patient was considering taking an ad out in the newspaper to try and find the good Samaritan who helped him to thank him. As fate would have it, that good Samaritan was in his hospital room. The patient said: “It’s a miracle, I was able to find him. A lot of people would not have stopped, but he did and he saved my life.” Alex remained very humble about the experience. When asked why he sprang into action and helped the driver he said, “That’s what we do here; he needed help and I would do it again.”

Pictured: (left to right) Patient Archie Suse and Physical Therapist Alex Strouhal. Courtesy of HCA Florida Sarasota Doctors Hospital.