All healthcare workers are heroes, especially during these coronavirus times. But, nurse Ivan Escobar was named the ‘Everyday Extraordinary’ 2020 Nurse Hero by the Red Cross even before the virus arrived. When the driver of a car nearby was shot in his head, Escobar jumped out of his own vehicle and into action. He found the driver bleeding profusely, grabbed the teddy bear that the driver’s daughter was carrying to staunch the blood and tended to the man carefully until paramedics arrived.
The driver survived and Escobar visited him and his family a few days later, bringing a gift to the daughter. “I went to Build-a-Bear and bought the little girl a nurse bear, I figured to replace her bear that I had used,” he explains.
Escobar is an Emergency Room nurse at St. Anthony’s Hospital in Chicago and is bravely facing the challenges of dealing with this pandemic daily. “At times I feel like the situation is out of my control… but we accept that challenge… I sense COVID-19 has cemented that solidarity between all of us in the medical field and in humanity,” he told the Red Cross.
Escobar was to receive his award at the Red Cross of Illinois’ annual Heroes Breakfast, which was cancelled because of coronavirus. I hope you are inspired by his story, and consider donating to the Red Cross to in support of blood services too at www.redcross.org/ChicagoHero. Right now, the impact of your gift will be doubled by a generous match.
Better is honored to be a sponsor of the Heroes Breakfast and to collaborate with the Red Cross to share the inspiring stories of all the 2020 Heroes too.
