Matt Tracey, RN

One evening, Matt was driving to work on the Genesys campus when he noticed three bystanders standing near a pond and what he initially thought was a boat in the water. As he got closer, he quickly realized it could not have been a boat—it was a car that had gone into the pond and was rapidly sinking.

Matt immediately made a U-turn and stopped to help. After asking the bystanders if everyone was okay, they told him that the driver was still trapped inside the vehicle. Without hesitation, Matt entered the water and swam to the sinking car.

By the time he reached it, the roof was already underwater. He repeatedly dove beneath the surface, and on his fourth attempt, he was finally able to open one of the car doors. As the fire department and police arrived on scene and entered the water to assist, Matt held the car door open while a police officer cut the driver's seatbelt.

Together, Matt and the first responders were able to remove the driver from the vehicle and swim him safely back to shore, where CPR was immediately initiated.

After helping rescue the victim, Matt went into the Emergency Department to alert his coworkers that a drowning victim was on the way so they could prepare for the patient's arrival. He then went home to change out of his wet scrubs before returning to work to complete his shift. Matt then spent the remainder of his night caring for his patients, returning to his responsibilities after an extraordinary act of courage and selflessness.

Matt's quick thinking, courage, and willingness to act made an extraordinary difference. Without hesitation, he stepped into a dangerous situation to give someone every possible chance.

Matt reminds us that being a nurse isn't just a profession: it's a calling. Compassion, clinical judgment, and commitment to helping others do not end when a shift does. Those qualities become part of who you are, and Matt demonstrated them in an extraordinary way