Carol McLernon writes, “Last week, my neighbor, Darryl Pieper, suffered a cardiac event in the vicinity of McDonald’s while driving to the pharmacy to get his wife Darlene’s prescription. A nurse who happened to be nearby tended to Darryl and comforted Darlene. The paramedics arrived promptly and administered appropriate care. A kind university student offered assistance and went for the prescription using his own money although Darlene had given him money. The nurse took her to the hospital in Janesville. How blessed we are to have these and other wonderful young people here in Whitewater.”
Our thanks to Carol McLernon for sharing that beautiful account, which she titled “Young Heroes.”
Darlene’s son, Anthony Menneke, posted the following words of thanks on the Facebook page of the local Whitewater Anything Forum. Through the comments that were made on that post it was learned that the nurse is Ashley Voigt, and the young man is a student at UW-Whitewater.
Anthony Menneke writes, “Want to give a huge shout out and thank you to the nurse and young man that helped my stepdad and mom last Wednesday night. They were driving and turned by the McDonald’s when my stepdad who has been having heart issues blacked out and they went over the curb at McDonald’s and hit a bush which stopped the car. My mom called 911. Luckily they or no one was hurt. Luckily a woman in the parking lot is a nurse and immediately checked on my stepdad. Police arrived and they pulled him out of the car and immediately started CPR. A nice young man/student sat with my mom calming her down and helping her. Rescue squad arrived and took him to the Janesville hospital. He coded twice in the ambulance but they got him back. This amazing nurse that checked on my stepdad when they crashed was gracious enough to take my mom to the hospital. My stepdad is doing well and getting a pacemaker today. Want to give a huge thank you to this young woman/nurse, the young man who comforted my mom while they were working on my stepdad, Whitewater PD, and the EMTs that brought him back. We are blessed to still have him. Whitewater is an amazing community.”
