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(Des Moines, IA) -- A Des Moines nurse thought she was having an afternoon with family. Instead, she jumped into action.
Dani Cunningham was at the Winter Farmers Market at the Iowa Events Center recently when she noticed an older man had fallen on the escalator. She ran over to help and found he was bleeding profusely. To make it more complicated, a previous medical issue left him unable to speak.
"So I hit the emergency stop button on the escalator because it just kept scraping him, that was just terrible. Low and behold, he did end up pulling a card out of his pocket that said, 'I've had a prior brain attack, I cannot talk.' So I just reassured him, 'I'm a nurse, you're okay, you're safe,'" said Cunningham.
Cunningham stayed by his side and treated his wounds until EMTs arrived. She says it's just in her nature as an emergency room and intensive care unit nurse at UnityPoint for more than ten years.
"I couldn't tell you a single nurse that wouldn't have done the same thing I would. I'd like to think anyone would, but specifically nurses, I feel like it's just who we are," said Cunningham.