You make choices in your life some good and some bad. Many of us don’t get recognition for the decisions we make every day – but, Thalia Rodriguez made a choice and became a hero!
Rodriguez, 17, was driving her car when she saw a man on the side of the road – he was bleeding. She had taken a high school health class and knew a little first responder techniques and pulled over to see if she could help.
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First, she checked to see if he was breathing and found his pulse. The man’s left leg was gone, and his right leg was a mess, and he was bleeding profusely.
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Another driver stopped, this driver was a nurse named Vianca Diaz. Diaz got a belt and Rodriguez made a tourniquet to wrap around the unresponsive man’s leg.
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The tourniquet, which was Rodriguez’s idea saved the man’s life. The two women waited with the man until help arrived.
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Later, Rodriguez found out that the man was an off-duty Miami-Dade Police officer, Major Ricky Carter. Carter had been injured in a motorcycle crash.
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Luis Espinosa, Rodriguez’s medical responder teacher, said he was impressed with the skill and grace Rodriguez showed under the intense pressure of that situation.
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What a proud moment for both teacher and student! Rodriguez is also a cadet at a local fire station and will attend college and take more first responder courses.
Her ultimate goal is to become a firefighter for one of the stations in the Miami-Dade area.
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