Hilary Piquette
November 2022
Hilary
Piquette
,
ASN, RN
Ward 4 Lower
VA Central Western, MA.
Leeds
,
MA
United States
Fortunately, she got there soon after he fell, and because she is well trained, she began right away giving him bystander CPR, which in the end, we have been told, saved his life.
When reading about this prestigious award for nurses, we realized that Ms. Piquette’s care for our family in our minds met all the criteria of the award. Simply put, she is responsible for my husband’s life being saved, our children having a father, and his patients having their doctor back. There is no greater gift a human being can give to another.
It was a sweltering day in August when the Farm Ride, a bicycle event that draws hundreds of riders from across the northeast to enjoy the beautiful farmland and countryside around Amherst, South Hadley, and many other communities, was held. My husband looks forward to this ride every summer in the bucolic countryside and the camaraderie at the end with other riders. It is a 70-mile race for many people, but others do a shorter course. My husband had trained for the race and had done 70 miles in the past. We were concerned about the heat wave we were having as well as the sweltering humidity, but when I dropped him off in Amherst in the morning for the ride, it was a pleasant 72 degrees, and it was forecast only afternoon that it would get to be oppressive heat. I took a photo of my husband, who was proud to be ready to hit the road on the summer day for a long day of exercise and beauty. It did not go as planned. I had taken a 40 min swim in Puffer’s Pond while he rode and then took a trip to the famous Eric Carle Museum around 12:15. Little did I know that twenty minutes earlier on the same street as the Carle Museum, my husband had collapsed and had a cardiac arrest right in the road. Because Nurse Piquette is the kind of person who will give her all in any circumstance when there was a medical need, she and a friend happened to be driving by and stopped immediately when they saw someone fall over on his bike. Fortunately, she got there soon after he fell, and because she is well trained, she began right away giving him bystander CPR, which in the end, we have been told, saved his life.
Few people would jump into that situation on a hot and sweaty day when I’m sure she had other plans, to give of herself and her physical strength for FIVE minutes of CPR, which is a very long time. But thank God, she did not give up and after a few minutes, the police and firemen arrived and took over but those crucial five to seven minutes saved my husband’s life and his ability to have normal brain function. What a hero she was to have acted so quickly, so professionally, and so competently.
He was sent to Baystate Hospital in Springfield for trauma and cardiac treatment. He was found to have silent coronary artery disease (after all he was biking 50-70 miles with no pain or shortness of breath!) and happened to be on a medication for intermittent atrial fibrillation which can cause fatal arrhythmias when accompanied by ischemia, which of course, we did not know he had. It has taken a while to sort out, but more than one doctor has said to us…..you were SO lucky someone was there to resuscitate you….most people who have out-of-hospital myocardial infarctions die.
So, it is with surety, gratitude, and respect that we would like to nominate Ms. Piquette for The DAISY Award. She has demonstrated the core values and dedication of the nursing profession with her knowledge, her personal fortitude, her willingness to help others when they were in medical need, her compassion, and her persistence in staying on five minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation when others may have given off or collapsed with exhaustion. Many times since that day have I said a prayer of thanks to the nurse who helped my husband that day, even though until now I did not know her name. I tried to find her to thank her, but she did not want any special recognition and humbly just went about her work. She had never asked for praise or recognition and did this as a humble act.
She is a credit to her profession. Her actions that day positively affected many lives: his family, his medical department at MIT, and patients and our community. Now that I know your name, I can thank you, Nurse Hilary Piquette.
It was a sweltering day in August when the Farm Ride, a bicycle event that draws hundreds of riders from across the northeast to enjoy the beautiful farmland and countryside around Amherst, South Hadley, and many other communities, was held. My husband looks forward to this ride every summer in the bucolic countryside and the camaraderie at the end with other riders. It is a 70-mile race for many people, but others do a shorter course. My husband had trained for the race and had done 70 miles in the past. We were concerned about the heat wave we were having as well as the sweltering humidity, but when I dropped him off in Amherst in the morning for the ride, it was a pleasant 72 degrees, and it was forecast only afternoon that it would get to be oppressive heat. I took a photo of my husband, who was proud to be ready to hit the road on the summer day for a long day of exercise and beauty. It did not go as planned. I had taken a 40 min swim in Puffer’s Pond while he rode and then took a trip to the famous Eric Carle Museum around 12:15. Little did I know that twenty minutes earlier on the same street as the Carle Museum, my husband had collapsed and had a cardiac arrest right in the road. Because Nurse Piquette is the kind of person who will give her all in any circumstance when there was a medical need, she and a friend happened to be driving by and stopped immediately when they saw someone fall over on his bike. Fortunately, she got there soon after he fell, and because she is well trained, she began right away giving him bystander CPR, which in the end, we have been told, saved his life.
Few people would jump into that situation on a hot and sweaty day when I’m sure she had other plans, to give of herself and her physical strength for FIVE minutes of CPR, which is a very long time. But thank God, she did not give up and after a few minutes, the police and firemen arrived and took over but those crucial five to seven minutes saved my husband’s life and his ability to have normal brain function. What a hero she was to have acted so quickly, so professionally, and so competently.
He was sent to Baystate Hospital in Springfield for trauma and cardiac treatment. He was found to have silent coronary artery disease (after all he was biking 50-70 miles with no pain or shortness of breath!) and happened to be on a medication for intermittent atrial fibrillation which can cause fatal arrhythmias when accompanied by ischemia, which of course, we did not know he had. It has taken a while to sort out, but more than one doctor has said to us…..you were SO lucky someone was there to resuscitate you….most people who have out-of-hospital myocardial infarctions die.
So, it is with surety, gratitude, and respect that we would like to nominate Ms. Piquette for The DAISY Award. She has demonstrated the core values and dedication of the nursing profession with her knowledge, her personal fortitude, her willingness to help others when they were in medical need, her compassion, and her persistence in staying on five minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation when others may have given off or collapsed with exhaustion. Many times since that day have I said a prayer of thanks to the nurse who helped my husband that day, even though until now I did not know her name. I tried to find her to thank her, but she did not want any special recognition and humbly just went about her work. She had never asked for praise or recognition and did this as a humble act.
She is a credit to her profession. Her actions that day positively affected many lives: his family, his medical department at MIT, and patients and our community. Now that I know your name, I can thank you, Nurse Hilary Piquette.