As Alexa Sequeira celebrates her graduation from GW Nursing’s Master of Science in Nursing program this week, she is also enjoying a bit of hero status in her hometown of Boston.
Driving home from her shift as an emergency room nurse at Winchester Hospital in suburban Boston the night of May 3, she saw two state police officers standing over a man in the median. The man’s head was badly bleeding and “he was definitely blue,” Ms. Sequeira said.
She pulled over, checked the man’s pulse and started CPR. The officers were well-equipped with medical equipment, so she had a bag valve mask to help deliver breaths.
“We finally got him back. In 12 minutes, he was awake and talking to us,” she said. Once paramedics arrived, the man was transferred to Boston Medical Center and is expected to make a full recovery, according to news reports.
Massachusetts State Police, Boston news and social media outlets have all covered Ms. Sequeira’s efforts to save the man. In one commonly used photograph, she’s wearing her white GW Nursing nurse practitioner (NP) student coat.
Ms. Sequeira obtained her nursing degree from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, but she said she always knew she wanted to be an NP.
“I did a lot of research into the best online schools, with the best facilities and the best faculty,” she said. “GW screamed out at me.”
She enrolled in the program in September 2017, and had such a good experience that her sister, Allie Anselmo, enrolled a couple of years later. The sisters were able to celebrate Ms. Sequeira’s accomplishment together Thursday, viewing GW Nursing’s virtual graduation celebration together.
“I felt like I was head-and-shoulders better-prepared than NP students from other programs,” Ms. Sequeira said. “I was trained well by really, really, honestly good instructors,” she said.
GW Nursing graduate faculty members were not surprised to read about Ms. Sequeira’s roadside save.
“She exemplifies the vision of GW graduates as trusted advocates for advancement of societal well-being,” said Dr. Judith Scardillo, a professorial lecturer in nursing.