Jamonicia Johnson’s heart dropped when she saw the line of stopped traffic on the highway.
Johnson, director for nursing programs at East Mississippi Community College, had spent the morning of Jan. 28 with other faculty and students in Jackson for the Mississippi Nurses’ Association’s RN and APRN Day at the Capitol.
The entire group was traveling back to the Golden Triangle when cars began stopping for a wreck on Highway 25 between Louisville and Starkville. As soon as her car stopped, Johnson jumped out and began heading toward the accident.
“Typically, with me being a nurse, I usually pull over for accidents anyway to go check,” she told The Dispatch on Friday. “But I was particularly worried about faculty and students because I knew that we were traveling at the same time.”
Her fears only grew as she came onto the scene and noticed the same grey scrubs worn by students in the associate degree nursing program.
“I went up and I saw one of our students,” she said. “I said, ‘Are you OK?’ and she said, ‘No it’s not us. We’re OK.’ That’s when she … led me to the accident victims.”
Macy Minor and Alyssa Franks, both Columbus natives in the associate degree nursing program at EMCC’s Golden Triangle campus, were riding back in the same car when they arrived at the two-vehicle accident only minutes after it happened.
Though the students didn’t see the crash occur, Franks said it appeared one vehicle had been trying to pull over when it was clipped by another that rolled off of the highway.
Seeing no first responders on scene, the duo jumped into action without a second thought.
“I remember (Franks) was like, ‘We need to stop.’ And we didn’t really think. We just got out of the car and ran,” Minor told The Dispatch on Friday. “I was really worried about the flipped vehicle because, at this time, nobody (had exited the vehicle).”
The students quickly worked to settle passengers of the first car, who were both in shock. Then they made their way to the vehicle that had flipped. By that time, the driver had crawled out with a bloody hand.
“He was pacing back and forth, and we were like, ‘Hey, let’s hold that hand up and sit here,’” Franks said. “He wanted to talk to the other people, and we were like no, ‘You sit down.’”
By that time, Johnson had made it to the students and helped hold the man’s hand as Franks bandaged it using materials from classes she had leftover in her car.
Seeing her students in action, Johnson said she felt impressed as the three waited for first responders to arrive.
“My heart was just leaping for joy because that’s what we want students to take from becoming a nurse,” she said. “That’s what it’s all about, providing help to others. I was … just very grateful that they had that selfless heart and a good samaritan, serving spirit. I’m very proud of them.”
‘A calling to serve’
EMCC recognized Franks and Minor this week with the presentation of a Good Samaritan Award, honoring both of their efforts in responding during the emergency. The two students exemplify a serving spirit Johnson said she hopes each student brings to the nursing field.
“We hope they come into the program with that in their hearts (because) that’s really what nursing is about, what they displayed,” she said. “(We) just wanted to … highlight that, that we do have students that recognize what nursing is (about).”
Thinking back on the experience, Franks doesn’t remember ever stopping to question whether they should help.
“I feel like, to be in this program, … you have to have a calling to serve, and you just don’t really think about stopping in that way. You’re not like, ‘Oh should I stop?’” she said. “It’s just instinctual. … You want to stop and help. You want to make sure they’re OK because that’s what you were put here to do.”
Minor shared the same sentiment, feeling as if she was “supposed to be there.” Regardless, every second was still intimidating, she said.
“The whole situation really was (scary) because we were the only people there,” she said. “But we didn’t have a choice.”
Both second-year students, Minor and Franks are set to graduate in December, but neither has started emergency and critical care coursework yet. But that wasn’t a hindrance, Franks said.
“We have gotten very helpful information to kind of be able to maybe not take charge of a situation like that fully, but (enough) to be effective, to be helpful in that position,” she said. “We’ve had enough up until this point to stop and feel comfortable helping and assessing.”
Now, Franks and Minor, who both hope to work in emergency rooms after graduation, are especially looking forward to critical care coursework. The entire experience, Franks said, affirmed she had made the right choice in pursuing nursing.
“It validates that you’re in the right place, that you picked the right path,” Franks said.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
