Husker Hero: 18-Year-Old Girl Saves 6-Year-Old?s Life

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Some believe heroes are made by the paths they choose, not the powers they have, but Nebraska’s 2015 citizen hero for Friday’s fifth Hy-Vee Nebraska-Iowa Heroes Game at Memorial Stadium is an exception. Why? Because Kassee Jones, 18, can put checkmarks on both the path and the power boxes.

A graduate from Bennington, Neb., High School, Jones solidified the nursing path she wants to pursue and why wouldn’t she? Her grandma, Mary Gilboy, is a nurse. Her mom, Brandee, is a paramedic, just like her dad, Brent Jones, who works for the Lincoln Fire Department.

“I’ve been surrounded by health care my whole life,” said Kassee, a college freshman and summer lifeguard who will be honored at Friday’s nationally televised Hy-Vee Heroes Game for saving the life of a 6-year-old boy last June at Camp Legacy near her hometown.

Kassee remembers her parents coming home with stories of how they helped certain people. “The medical field has always fascinated me,” she said. “I can just see in my parents’ eyes how happy they are and how fulfilled they are. That’s why I want to do what they do – help people.”

On the first full day of summer camp last June 1st, Jones got the chance not only to help, but save a young boy’s life. During an “after care” period where kids could stay longer before their parents picked them up at camp, the boy who was saved was told to stay in the shallow end of the pool, based on his swimming test.

Shortly after Her High School Graduation, Kassee Jones Saved a Life

In her regular scan, Jones (pictured above) noticed the boy floating on his stomach. Her first instinct was that lots of kids do that, but she kept her eye on him for a few seconds and it didn’t feel right. She jumped in the pool and found him unconscious. After she pulled him out of the water, Kassee laid him on his back and checked for a pulse.

“I found a pulse, but he wasn’t breathing, so I tilted his head back into the position for resuscitation breaths and gave him two rescue breaths, then gave him a sternum rub,” she said. “Rubbing the sternum is really painful, but I knew it could arouse someone who’s unconscious.”

Jones gave the 6-year-old two more rescue breaths, checked his pulse again and gave him two more. “Finally,” she said, “he came to, spit up some water and his eyes opened so wide that he took the deepest breath I’ve ever seen.”

The kid “was so out of it, he kept asking for help,” Jones said, “so we sat there and rolled him on his side and assured him that he was safe and that he was in good arms and hands.”

By that time, Jones’ supervisors came over and called 9-1-1, and guess who the first responder was? “My dad, Brent Jones, was the first one on the scene,” Kassee said. Ironically, he told his daughter on the Sunday before that if there were any incidents at Camp Legacy, he would be the first to respond. “He was super quick,” Kassee said. “By the time I got back out there, the little boy was sitting up in my supervisor’s lap and was totally fine, even though he was still shaken.”

Kassee’s Seasoned Paramedic Father Helped Calm Her Down

At that point, an 18-year-old, who stayed calm to do her job on the first day of the season, ran to her dad and “started to freak out a little bit because it all just started to hit me about what I’d just done,” Kassee recalled, adding that her dad provided instant advice. “Kassee, pull it together,” he said. “You’re still doing your job right now.”

Those words hit home. “I took a deep breath, composed myself and told my dad exactly what he needed to know,” she said. “That little boy was alert and breathing, but the ambulance took him to Children’s Hospital because he still had water in his lungs.” That night, Nebraska’s 2015 Hero Award winner visited the boy that she saved in the hospital. “He was sitting up in bed, and watching TV,” she said. “He told me he wanted to go back to camp the next day.”

Yes, the human mind is a powerful source, especially when it learns what it was programmed to absorb. “I’m just so incredibly thankful for all of the training that my lifeguarding course gave me,” Kassee said. “We have a whole week of in-service training before camp even opens. I just didn’t think I'd have to use it so soon.”

During training, Kassee remembers thinking how scary it would be. “When it actually came down to it, I knew I had to act upon it and save a life,” she said. “I never thought about how scared I was. I told myself: ‘You have to do what you have to do; otherwise, this is not going to end well.’ My adrenaline was shooting through the roof.”

When Adrenaline Was Gone, She Couldn’t Believe What She Did

Looking back, the strength Kassee mustered under fire are thoughts she still can’t fully conceive. “It’s hard for me,” she said. “I asked my dad: ‘How did I pull him and myself out on a wet ladder?’ Without all that adrenaline, I wouldn’t be able to do that. I couldn’t feel my legs for three hours.”

Not surprisingly, there was no shortage of nominations to honor Kassee Jones with a Hero’s Award. Her sister, Karlee, tagged her on Facebook and encouraged everyone to nominate Kassee. A proud mom was among those who endorsed that idea.

An equally proud grandma weighed in. “Kassee is quiet and prefers to stay under the radar most of the time. She does, however, step up when needed,” grandma Mary said. “It would be so easy for a just graduated high schooler to be distracted by life and everything that graduation brings, but she did the responsible thing and took her training and her job seriously. I love this young lady, and I’m so proud that she did her job and saved a young boy’s life. She’s my hero!”

Shocked is the word Kassee uses to describe the overwhelming support she never envisioned. “I didn’t realize how many people nominated me,” she told me. “I told my family that I was just doing my job. I don’t really see it as being something super special. I know I saved a life, but it’s just hard for me to wrap my mind around winning an award for simply doing my job.”

Unwittingly, Husker Honoree Fits Her Own Description of a Hero

I ask Kassee to define hero. “To me, a hero is someone who sacrifices so much for helping others and putting others before themselves,” she said. “A hero’s willing to go the extra mile so someone else can live. Heroes do their best and help others. They’re selfless, have faith and trust themselves to do what needs to be done.”

Understanding why Kassee hesitates to apply the word hero to her experience, I reminded her that she had demonstrated the net result of her own philosophy. I told her that once you do everything you can to help save a life, the act becomes heroic, even if you’re only 18 years old and completely unaware of your newly acquired role-model status.

In her first semester this fall at Omaha’s Metropolitan Community College, Kassee Jones is earning 18 credit hours in her pre-nursing major. “It’s a two-year program,” she said. “Metro is affiliated with UNMC (University of Nebraska Medical Center). I’ll take my pre-requisites at Metropolitan, then go on to study another four years at UNMC.”

Six years from now, Bennington’s own Kassee Jones, a hero straight out of high school, expects to be a full-time nurse, just like her grandma. Truly humbled, she will approach her career with the same measured discipline she demonstrated last June.

Nebraska fans who appreciate Kassee’s response under pressure will have the chance to applaud her heroic effort at Friday’s Huskers vs. Hawkeyes Heroes Game. Her parents, sister and brother-in-law also will be inside Memorial Stadium to salute a future nurse, who just happened to save a young man’s life, and in the process, inspire others.

State Trooper, Caring Nurse Share Iowa’s 2015 Hy-Vee Hero Award

A state trooper and devoted nurse share Iowa’s 2015 “citizen hero” award and will be recognized with Kassee at halftime of Friday’s Nebraska-Iowa Hy-Vee Heroes Game at Memorial Stadium. Last April, state trooper Tracy Bohlen (pictured above) and nurse Jane McCurdy (pictured below), risked their lives to save a stranger’s life in the median of Interstate-35.

Patrick Roark had a seizure while driving through Iowa on I-35. Somehow, his 15-year-old son managed to put the car in park. Bohlen rushed to the scene, pulled Roark from the vehicle and gave him CPR in the middle of the busy interstate. McCurdy drove by, saw the incident and quickly offered her assistance. She not only helped at the scene, but comforted the driver’s son when his dad was taken to the hospital. McCurdy remained with the boy until his mother arrived from Oklahoma. Thanks to  combined heroic actions, Roark has since recovered nicely.

Red Cross/Hy-Vee/Nebraska/Iowa Partner to Showcase Remarkable People

“Kassee, Tracy and Jane exemplify what it means to be a hero,” said Jill Orton, Regional Executive for the American Red Cross serving Nebraska. “Their life-saving actions define why the American Red Cross, Hy-Vee, the University of Nebraska and the University of Iowa partner together each year to showcase remarkable people in both states.”

Jones, Bohlen and McCurdy, and members of their respective families, will be guests of the Huskers and the Hawkeyes at Friday’s game and will participate in a variety of special pregame activities. Randy Edeker, chairman, CEO and president of Hy-Vee, Inc., will present a $100,000 check to the American Red Cross just before kickoff to help support the important work of the American Red Cross in Nebraska and Iowa.

At halftime of Friday afternoon's Hy-Vee Heroes Game, Directors of Athletics Shawn Eichorst of the University of Nebraska and Gary Barta of the University of Iowa will make a joint special presentation to Hy-Vee Heroes Game honorees. To serve as permanent reminders of their heroic acts, all three names will be inscribed on the 2015 Hy-Vee Heroes Game Trophy.

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