Our Nurse of the Week is a 32-year-old nurse from Minnesota who was visiting Chicago last week with her two young sons when she found herself rushing to the aid of one of three people who were stabbed at Navy Pier. The woman has asked not to be named but her bravery has still been shared with the public.
As panicked families ran past her, abandoning their strollers and other personal belongings, the nurse kept her cool and applied a makeshift tourniquet to the man’s injured arm. The nurse and her sons had been headed back to their hotel after enjoying a firework show at the pier. Afterward, she calmed her 8- and 12-year-old sons who had witnessed the horrific scene.
Police later told her that the man whose arm she had helped bandage was one of three people stabbed during a fight outside the pier around 10 pm. The other two involved were 14-year-old boys who were reportedly not as seriously injured.
The nurse recalls the experience, telling www.chicagotribune.com, “All of a sudden I hear, ‘Oh my God!’ I turned to my right and there was this guy standing upright, waving his arms all around. He was bleeding profusely.”
The nurse first made sure her sons were safely out of the way, then she began trying to find a way to help stop the man’s bleeding. She checked herself and her sons for a belt she could use as a tourniquet, then a man who had also stopped to help offered her a piece of fabric that she could use to tie a makeshift tourniquet.
The nurse stayed with the victim who was going in and out of consciousness. After regaining consciousness, he attempted to pull a knife out in the middle of the crowd around him, but police stepped in and made an arrest before anyone else was harmed.
After things calmed down, police gave the nurse’s son honorary medallions from the SWAT team for their bravery. The nurse reported that she has worked at a hospital trauma center for the last year, and her instincts to jump in and tie the makeshift tourniquet were second nature to her. The next day, she was able to continue her vacation with her sons.
To learn more about the nurse from Minnesota who was visiting Chicago last week with her two young sons when she found herself rushing to the aid of one of three people who were stabbed at Navy Pier, visit here.
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