On-call medical worker abandons broken down car, sprints to save patient

  • 18/02/2018
A US medical worker sprinted to hospital after her car broke down.
A US medical worker sprinted to hospital after her car broke down. Photo credit: Getty

A US medical worker is being hailed as a hero after she ran a kilometre to hospital to help save a patient's life.

Paula Weatherley, a lab supervisor, was called into Conway Regional Medical Centre in Arkansas at 3am to help perform a life-saving procedure.

A patient was being air lifted to the hospital after suffering a heart attack, meaning time was of the essence.

Ms Weatherley began driving as soon as she got the call, but ran into trouble when she hit a piece of metal on the road and blew out her car tire. She knew that the time it would take to call for help or change the tire could mean the difference between life and death for the gravely ill patient.

"[I] decided that I just had to jump out, put my purse and coat on, and run so I could beat the patient here," she told KTHV.

The veteran lab supervisor abandoned her car and sprinted to hospital, a distance of almost a kilometre. She made it to Conway Regional Medical Centre with two minutes to spare before the patient was wheeled through the hospital doors.

Fortunately the patient survived, thanks in large part to all members of the on-call team being present to perform a difficult life-saving procedure. 

Ms Weatherley received an award from the hospital for her extraordinary efforts, KTHV reports. But she's adamant that her colleagues would have done the same thing in her position.

"It's nothing anybody on the team wouldn't do."

Newshub.