A reluctant hero, Bayou Strong

It is never a good thing to generalize.

It causes so much pain, and when we generalize we are defining a group of people, or individuals within that group, and so speaking for them rather than themselves.

But I shall do some generalizing here, because there are words that must be said and a generalization in this case is the only way to say them.

From the time I first set foot in Terrebonne Parish, nearly 25 years ago, there was something about the people that was, in a word, special. I noticed this during hurricanes and so many other emergencies, where people would put the needs of their neighbors first even before their own, and they would do this with a grace and a humility that I had never seen before. This was especially true in the bayou communities I encountered. Far less remote now than they were a long time ago, a common attribute was this desire to help. Not the phony, ”Oh, do you need help?” kind

of thing that begs dismissal, but the old fashioned, roll up your sleeves kind of thing where you don’t ask, you just do what needs to be done.

It has been my experience since first recognizing this that the bigger a place is, with ever more people, the less this attitude prevails. Maybe it’s because in the cities we figure the other guy can do it, so we’ll wait and see. I may have been guilty myself of this once or twice.

This is not the case with people like Darrell Domangue, however.

Darrell, now 50 years old, grew up in Chauvin, started fishing on his father’s boat well before he needed to shave, and so had a front-row milk crate for learning all of these important things, and has had a lifetime in which to practice them.

He especially got to put these principles into action Friday night, when a horrible wreck occurred in Chauvin, on La. Highway 56, not far from the Toussaint Foret Bridge.

Darrell was in his truck, parked on the bayouside, out of the way of traffic, talking with a friend, when the Corvette raced past him.

“They shook my truck it passed so fast,” Darrell said. “They made the curve and we heard the initial hit and I got in my vehicle and headed down there, to try to do what I can for these people, I thought.”

When Darrell got the the scene he realized that the two men still strapped in the decimated Corvette were longtime friends. Lloyd LeCompte was the driver and Paul Broussard the passenger, and ugly flames were licking around the sports car and Darrell could not allow that to happen.

“People was hollering get away it’s gonna blow and I seen my two friends in there and I refused to let them burn,” Darrell said. “It had to be put out regardless of it blowing up. I am not afraid to die.We started throwing buckets of water and extinguished it.”

Darrell’s cousin Jermaine was one of the bucket brigade folks. There were others whose names are not known, but whose contribution was appreciated.

With the fire extinguished Darrell tended to another friend he saw, there Eugene Rodrigue, who was thrown out of his pickup and not long for living.

Desi, Eugene’s wife, and his two boys had already been helped out of the truck.

Eugene couldn’t talk but Darrell could, and asked questions, which Eugene answered with nods.

“I asked are you hurting and he shook his head no, I asked are you having problems breathing ad he shook his head no,” Darrell said. “I said I am going to go check on your wife and kids and he shook his head really fast yes. When I came back I told him they were hurt but not bad, that they were all going to be OK. He opened his eyes wide

and shook his head.”

It was not long after that the angels came for Eugene, who died knowing his family would be OK, and whose family now knows that somehow, he did not

suffer.

But Darrell doesn’t think any of this is very special.

“I only did what any other man would do,” he said. “This was one of the hardest things I ever seen in my life.

Darrell knows there are some hard feelings between some families right now but he has a wish.

“It is tragic,” he said. “But it is time this bayou comes together and circulates as one instead of percolating against one another.” •

Darrell Domangue