Here’s one way to go above and beyond as an intern: Save your boss’ life.
That’s what Daniel Hernandez, a 20-year-old intern and junior at the University of Arizona, did for Ariz. Rep Gabrielle Giffords when she was shot in the head at a public event in Tucson, Ariz. Saturday.
As the alleged shooter Jared Lee Loughner opened fire on Giffords and other attendees at the “Congress on Your Corner” event, Hernandez sprinted towards the gunshots, providing life-saving assistance to his boss and the others wounded.
When asked if he was worried about possibly getting shot himself while trying to aid the injured, Hernandez told The Daily Caller that his focus was assisting the others.
“I don’t remember feeling concerned about myself, and once I saw that the congresswoman was injured, she was my top priority because of the severity of her wound,” Hernandez told TheDC. “My main concern was making sure all the injured people were all right.”
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.
An experienced nursing assistant and phlebotomist, Hernandez had some training with patient care prior to Saturday’s shooting, though he had never before been in a similar trauma situation.
“Having exposure to that kind of work, I was prepared and I maintained calm, so I wasn’t squeamish,” Hernandez told TheDC.
Hernandez waited with the congresswoman until the paramedics arrived, never leaving her side. He then accompanied Giffords to the hospital in her ambulance. He was “ecstatic” to learn his boss had survived.
Hernandez, a Tucson native, had been interning for Giffords for the second time only five days before the incident happened, but they’d known each other for several years.
Upon doing some extensive research on Giffords, Hernandez first began interning for her in 2008. When she maintained her congressional seat in 2010, he chose to intern for her again.
“I actually started with Hillary Clinton’s campaign as intern, it was first time I’d done anything in politics,” Hernandez told TheDC. “I was 17 years old, and when Hillary didn’t make it I started looking for someone else to work for. I had been following Gabby’s career and was always making sure I knew what was going on.”
Hernandez credits the Clinton internship as his “first real taste in politics,” and he remembers feeling very excited that a woman could be a serious contender for president, let alone run at all.
“I wanted the opportunity to work for something historical,” Hernandez said.
Familiarizing himself with the political atmosphere, then-college freshman Hernandez became well versed on state legislators, state senators, and Congresswoman Giffords because he knew she was running again for Congress.
“After seeing all the things I’d seen and being impressed by Giffords as a person, I decided to take a look at one of her events,” Hernandez told TheDC. “I met her and was very impressed, so I started interning in 2008.”
Hernandez added that Giffords is an exemplary example of how to work and communicate with constituents.
“I consider [Giffords] a friend, I’ve known her for years, which is why I was so happy to start working in her office,” Hernandez told TheDC.
When asked how his life has changed since Saturday’s horrific event, Hernandez told TheDC that the United States as a whole will have to reevaluate how to go about discussing politics.
“I think not only have things changed for me and those immediately affected by this horrible incident, but the country is going to have to really look at lots of things, how we conduct ourselves and how political discourse is done in this country,” Hernandez told TheDC.
Going forward, Hernandez would like to see constructive forms of political debate as opposed to default ad hominem attacks.
“In last couple years, there has been this focus on tearing others down, tearing down their ideals and attacking people on a personal basis instead of doing what we should be doing which is working constructively together,” Hernandez told TheDC.
In spite of Saturday’s casualties, Hernandez still wants to pursue a career in politics and even says he has a “renewed passion” for public service as a result of it all.
“I think it’s having the opposite effect on me,” Hernandez told TheDC. “It makes me want continue doing what I am doing because I am just really inspired by people like Giffords, her staffers, and her outreach director who unfortunately passed away, people I look up to who are heroes because they have dedicated their lives to public service. I have a renewed passion for trying to continue in service.”
Hernandez didn’t speak with Congresswoman Giffords much in the hours leading up to the shooting because everyone was running late.
“I have met her so many times [to remember all our conversations we’ve had], and when she came in for the event Saturday we were behind on schedule,” Hernandez told TheDC. “I didn’t want to take up time, so I just stayed in the back, and I didn’t talk to her before.”
Though the University of Arizona spring 2011 semester starts Wednesday, Hernandez told TheDC he suspects he’ll skip a week or two of classes to recompose.
“I might be taking the first week or two off, just to kind of make sure I’m in an okay enough place to be there, but I’d like to return as soon as possible to continue working for the Arizona Student’s Association and keep up with school,” Hernandez told TheDC.
Hernandez said the best thing he can do for himself right now is to work.
“The best thing to do for me is to work, which is of course to try and help others, and I hope to continue my internship there,” Hernandez said. “I want to keep interning and helping as I’ve been doing the past three years [at college].”
For quite some time, Hernandez has had a long-term goal of working at Giffords’ Washington office. Before Saturday’s events, Hernandez thought to himself that he’d like to work with Giffords in D.C. over the summer. That aspiration remains.
“I want to work for her at her D.C. office one day,” Hernandez told TheDC.
Will Rahn contributed to this report. Follow him on Twitter
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