Jennifer Hatzinikolas
August 2018
Jennifer
Hatzinikolas
,
RN
ICU
Penn Highlands DuBois
DuBois
,
PA
United States

 

 

 

I was attacked by a swarm of yellow jacket wasps and went into anaphylactic shock. I had stopped breathing and had no pulse. I slipped away into a cozy dream as my organs shut down. It was my fault, I unknowingly blew the leaf blower right into their hive which was hidden in the ground. Before my brain could register what was happening, the yellow jackets swarmed my legs like burrs from a burr bush and repeatedly stung me. Within 10 minutes a weird sensation spread up the back of my head and ears. My oldest child, R, called my friend Jenn Hatzinikolas who lives two streets over from me. She is an ICU nurse at Penn Highlands DuBois. I don't remember gasping for air (R told me) as I sat on the side stoop of my house waiting for Jenn. R called 911. I stopped breathing and Jenn breathed for me and directed the officer (who responded first from R's 911 call) to give me chest compressions. In about 20 minutes the EMTs arrived. Jenn directed the EMT in properly administering the EPI pens. I remember Jenn's voice firmly calling my name. It made me groggily "wake up". I remember wanting to go back "to sleep" but it was Jenn's voice firmly keeping me awake. Jenn stayed with me the whole time throughout my ordeal: in the ambulance, in the emergency room and finally to the DuBois hospital ICU. She was even there to console my children when I was in the emergency room and make sure they were okay until family from Virginia arrived. Jenn has said many times to me "it's my job". I'm in awe of her. I'm in awe at her humbleness. It is inspiring to be around someone who chooses a profession that saves lives every day. She is an Angel on Earth. She inspires me to try to be more like her: humble, caring, selfless and loving to others. She is an amazing, caring, kind and selfless person even when she is living life outside of working at the hospital.