When gunshots rang out during the celebration of the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl win, chaos ensued as everyone fled for their lives. In the aftermath of the Kansas City shooting, however, we’re learning more about those who chose to run toward the danger. Jessica Dean, a nurse, is one of those people. She joined the celebration with six family members, though the person physically closest to her at that time was her cousin.
Rather than thinking of herself, Jessica first instructed her cousin to go find the rest of their family. Then, with a decade of training on her side, this brave nurse climbed over a barricade to help one of the three wounded people she saw laying on the ground. After assessing the situation, she chose to help a man with gunshot wounds to the chest and groin.
“I think my brain was telling me to run, that ‘you have a husband, you have kids at home, you’ve got to go,'” Jessica recalls. “There’s something about, when you see somebody laying there like that, my heart could just not leave them.”
Brave Nurse Helps Wounded During Kansas City Shooting
So Jessica didn’t leave. Instead, she used her sweatshirt to help slow the bleeding in the man’s groin area. Soon, an officer joined her, noting that he was going to “stand right here in case they come back.” That’s the moment Jessica realized this wasn’t an isolated event.
Jessica stayed with the wounded man until EMS stook over. The last thing she knew about him before leaving was that he still had a pulse.
Since then, however, this caring nurse has learned something significant: The man she helped is Dominic Miller. This 18-year-old has been charged as one of the Kansas City shooters. Learning this has been tough on Jessica. Still, she insists that, as a medical professional, she very much did the right thing.
“At the end of the day, I still wanted to know how he was doing,” Jessica shares. “Despite the charges that he’s facing, I don’t want anybody’s life to end, regardless of their involvement in it. Even with his (alleged) involvement and getting the gun out and everything else, I wish he nor anyone else that day would’ve been a victim of gun violence.”
In the midst of tragedy, Jessica’s bravery and selflessness is a reminder of the good in the world. In fact, the nurse is quick to point out that she wasn’t the only one helping others that day.
“… instead of running from that gunfire, so many of them stayed and decided they were going to help strangers instead of helping themselves,” Jessica says. “When such a horrible thing happens, when you get to see so many people working together and doing the right thing, it definitely helps me. There’s a couple really bad individuals, but there were so many great people there that day, so many great people.”
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