Two KBS crew members in Idaho are being hailed as heroes after they helped an elderly man in distress get to the hospital in the middle of the night.
Early this summer, KBS Zone Managers Holley Larson and Matt Edwards were finishing their shift at a health care clinic in Boise, Idaho, at 2:30 a.m. when they noticed a car driving erratically into the clinic parking lot. The vehicle stopped and an elderly man emerged from the car. He was sweating and was having difficulty breathing.
Holley Larson and Matt Edwards
The Boise resident slowly approached Larson and Edwards, lugging his oxygen tank.
“He wanted to know if the urgent care clinic was still open,” Edwards said. “When we told him it had closed much earlier, he just stood there and didn’t really know what to do. So, we asked if he needed help in getting to the hospital and he said yes. He was very pale; he did not look good.”
But the elderly gentleman, 80, did not want to call an ambulance, and he did not want to go to the nearest hospital. He would only go to St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center about seven miles away – and he wanted to drive himself.
So, the elderly man got back in his vehicle and followed Edwards’ car, while Larson followed behind them. They drove together very slowly to the hospital. When they got there, the man tried to walk himself into the Emergency Room, but couldn’t make it, so Larson ran and got a wheelchair to get him in. He was checked in immediately.
The elderly patient was admitted into the hospital early Tuesday and was released on Friday. “The situation was certainly dire for him; he needed medical treatment right away,” said a spokesman for the health care clinic, who followed up with the hospital about the elderly man’s status. “He is lucky Matt and Holley happened to be there.”
Reached at home by KBS, the Boise resident said he was treated for a severe heart condition, which required a medical procedure. He said he is doing fine now – thanks to the heroics of Larson and Edwards. “If it wasn’t for them, I would never have made it,” he said.
Larson said it was all in a day’s work: “It feels great to help out, I would do it again in a heartbeat.”
KBS is grateful to Matt and Holley for going the extra mile. Their response is indicative of the caring employees we like to hire.
