A 70-Year-Old on Crutches Crossed the Tram Tracks to Press His Hands on a Wounded Kraków Officer’s Chest
by Sari Moon · Thought CatalogBy Sari Moon
Updated 2 minutes ago, November 12, 2026
The man captured on film crossing Kraków’s tram tracks on crutches after the November 7 shooting has told his own story. In a November 11 interview with Gość Niedzielny’s Monika Łącka, he gives his name as Patrick, says he is 70, and asks that his surname stay private.
He says he was waiting for a tram at the Dietla and Stradomska junction when an officer fell nearby. He crossed to ask how he could help, then saw the bleeding and pressed his hands to a wound in the officer’s upper chest.
A woman passing by handed him a scarf, and he used that too. He says the officer was partly conscious.
Patrick says two surgeons then took over. He moved to help the wounded man in military clothing and later wedged his crutches down to hold a thermal blanket in place. He says he didn’t yet fully grasp who everyone around him was.
The surgeons are Michał Pędziwiatr and Mateusz Wierdak of University Hospital, who had left a meal nearby to help. Pędziwiatr credited Wierdak with controlling an officer’s chest bleeding.
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