As Jared Lee Loughner was in the midst of shooting Ariz. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and other attendees at a public event in Tucson, a young congressional aide named Daniel Hernandez heroically rushed towards the gunfire, providing life-saving assistance to his boss and the other wounded.
“You do no good to anyone if you have a breakdown,” Hernandez told The Arizona Republic. “It was probably not the best idea to run toward the gunshots, but people needed help.”
Hernandez ran from person to person, checking their pulses. When he came across Giffords, Hernandez began applying pressure to the entry wound on her forehead. According to a hospital physician, Hernandez probably saved Giffords’ life.
He waited with her until the paramedics arrived, never leaving her side. Hernandez then accompanied Giffords to the hospital in her ambulance. He was “ecstatic” to learn his boss had survived.
Hernandez had been working for Giffords for only five days.
“She was one of the people I’ve looked up to,” Hernandez told The Arizona Republic. “Knowing she was alive and still fighting was good news. She’s definitely a fighter, whether for her own life, or standing up for people in southern Arizona.”