The Three Injuries Problem Remote Road Photo By Nigel Brown Creative Commons ShareAlike Licence

Here is a fun puzzle we created to stimulate out-of-the-box thinking.

You are driving through a relatively remote townsland in a small coupe and you come across a bizarre incident playing out in real time before your eyes. 
Three people standing at a bus stop are injured after a lorry takes a roundabout too quickly knocking over the bus shelter they were standing under. The lorry driver in their infinite wisdom has decided to do a hit-and-run leaving the injured parties to fend for themselves.

The afflicted are quite severely injured and unfortunately on this eventful day there is no mobile phone reception as seemingly several nights before there was storm that damaged the local antenna. Given the remote location of the area there is no redundancy in place. Therefore, dialling emergency services is not an option.

You take note of the people’s Injuries. One, a highly respected politician with a reputation for being selfless, has got a compound fracture of the tibia that is in danger of infection. He is also not helped by the fact that there is a brisk breeze transmitting dust and pathogens.

A woman is concussed and displaying worrying symptoms such as uttering incoherent sentences, she cannot seem to be able to hold her left arm in position and there is a slight trickle of blood coming from her nose. You suspect that she has a concussion and a possible brain haemorrhage.

The third person is in a pretty shocking state. You look around and observe that he appeared to have gotten his leg caught in a horizontal side support buckled under the impact of the lorry hitting the shelter. Unfortunately, as the panicked man was instinctively trying to flee, his leg became trapped resulting in his hip being dislocated. He is in convulsions on the ground as he unsuccessful tries to suppress the waves of pain that are burning his insides. You uselessly tell him to stay still but you momentarily pause as the signs of a faint flicker of recognition briefly flitters across your face.

As you try to suss a suitable plan of action you notice that there is a house within about 200 metres of your present location. After a brief, somewhat depressing conversation with the well-respected politician you ascertain that he is the son of the man and woman. They were seeing him off as he was getting the bus.

The couple had only recently purchased the house 200 metres away and had done so for two main reasons. They liked the peaceful nature of the location and as none of them drove it was ideal because it was served by a bus stop that was serviced several times a day.

Adding to the misfortune of the situation you find out that the son persuaded his parents to get rid of the landline in exchange for a mobile option.

Your worst fears are realised when he acknowledges that although they have internet there is only mobile broadband in the area – meaning it is offline with the damaged antenna. This explains what they were doing waiting for a bus that would never arrive. No internet meant that they were unaware of a local bus strike affecting all the local bus routes. There wouldn’t be a bus coming for a long time.

You explain this to the son and in response a look of exasperation is conveyed by his entire body as he pointedly remarks that few cars ever pass by here as the road they are on forms a loop well off the beaten path. He remarks that it is a miracle that you were following the lorry in the first place.

As the father plaintively screams it becomes obvious that the woman’s bleeding is beginning to worsen.

Out of options, with little chance of hailing passing traffic, and the nearest house miles away you make a decision to bring one of the injured to the nearest hospital/medical centre. As you put the keys into the ignition and bring the car nearer to facilitate an easier transfer you realise that the man with the dislocated hip was once a world champion bodybuilder who won Mr. Universe just a decade previously. A feat made all the more remarkable because it was achieved without the use of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs.

You semi-automatically park the car, rush around to the other side and open the passenger door but you can only bring one person. Who do you bring with you? More importantly why do you leave the other two behind?

Answer To The Three Injuries Problem

Highlight the hidden text between the broken lines to reveal the answer to the three injuries problem:

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The injured women is the answer as a selfless politician and a recent drug-free Mr. Universe winner don’t exist!
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Can You Solve The Three Injuries Problem?