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In This Issue:
Brad Robillard
One evening last October, BWH nurse Brad Robillard, BSN, RN, was driving to his girlfriend's house and listening to a Red Sox game on the radio after completing a shift at Bournewood Hospital in Brookline, where he then worked.
Outfielder Shane Victorino had just hit a grand slam when Robillard, now of Tower 14CD, noticed several cars pulled over on Route 9 in Framingham. Instinct told him something bad had happened, so he parked and rushed over to see what was going on.
A young man had lost control of his motorcycle and crashed into a guardrail, and was then hit by an oncoming car. As Robillard approached, he found him conscious, lying face down, with his legs severely injured.
"The people around him were just in shock," said Robillard, who received his nursing degree in 2012 and joined BWH in November 2013. "No one was acting yet. I knew I needed to react and help."
Upon realizing that the young man had lost one leg above the knee and the other below the knee in the accident, Robillard used the belts of two female spectators to create tourniquets to stop the bleeding before an ambulance arrived. The young man was then airlifted to a nearby hospital. After a two-week stay, he was transferred to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, where he began working with prosthetic limbs.
"If he hadn't arrived when he did, there is no way I would have made it," said the young man, who lost a total of four and a half liters of blood.
Earlier this summer, Robillard was honored by the Framingham Police Department with a Civilian Distinguished Service Award for Live Saving for his efforts. He attended a police department ceremony with his parents and girlfriend. Robillard has also since met with the young man and his family, who have called Robillard their angel.
"It was the most intense caregiving experience I have had," said Robillard. "It's a good feeling. Not many people can say they saved someone's life. It's a humbling experience."