My friend Joe writes about the 20-year old University of Arizona student who rushed to Rep. Giffords' assistance after she was shot by her assailant:
According to the Arizona Republic, Hernandez was standing about 30 feet from Giffords during the “Congress on Your Corner” event outside a Safeway store near Tucson.
When the gunshots began, Hernandez ran toward them and began checking the pulses of people who’d been hit. When Hernandez got to Giffords, he used his hand to apply pressure to the entry wound on her forehead. He pulled her into his lap and held her upright so she wouldn’t choke on her blood. Hernandez used his hand to apply pressure to the wound until someone brought clean smocks from the meat department of the grocery store. He stayed with Giffords until paramedics arrived, then climbed into an ambulance with her. On the way to the hospital, he squeezed her hand and she squeezed back.
Hernandez is a junior at the University of Arizona where he is a political science major. Drop by his Facebook page and let him know how proud of him he all are.
I think everyone wonders what they would do when faced with an emergency like this.
I'd like to be more like Mr. Hernandez.
I'm sure he's a complicated guy with the same mixture of good and bad, and failure and success as everyone else.
But this shows a degree of courage and heart that I hope I can emulate if I am ever put in a position like this.