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When a bystander collapsed during the Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday, a nurse was nearby and rushed to help. She was not just any nurse – she was the wife of the country’s top military officer, General Mark Milley.
Hollyanne Milley told NBC News that just before President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and their spouses arrived at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, she heard a commotion behind her and looked up at the museum .
“I just saw legs stretched out there,” said Milley, a practicing nurse.
Milley ran to see if she could help and found the man unresponsive.
“When I got there he was breathing very irregularly and not really sucking air into his lungs like he should have been,” she said. “And then he stopped breathing.
The man had no pulse. Milley said she ordered someone to call 911 and started chest compressions. “I did about two cycles of CPR, and then he just took a big, deep breath and kind of moaned a bit, then started to move.
Milley detected his pulse and within minutes he began to answer her questions.
“I put him in a side recovery position and just talked to him and told him what’s going on and encouraged him to take deep breaths,” she says.
Fort Myer Emergency Medical Services arrived and took the victim to a local hospital.
Milley spoke to him the next morning and told him he was fine. She said the man, a veteran who asked to remain anonymous, has since been released.
“He is grateful that he is here next year to once again honor those who have served,” Milley said. “And he said that thanks to a spectator who knew CPR, that’s why he will be able to continue to honor our veterans for many years to come, hopefully.”
When asked if she saved the man’s life, Milley said others rushed to her aid as well, including an AV doctor and the president’s enlisted senior adviser, and that it was a team effort.
“But I think we were all in the right place at the right time,” she said.
In a statement to NBC News, General Milley said, “Hollyanne’s actions were representative of the hero medical professionals who are always there when we need them. It represents the strength and service of our military families.
Holleyanne Milley said saving the life of a man with the President only yards away was actually not the most unusual situation when she stepped in to help a stranger with a medical crisis. “I went to an army ball a few years ago and did CPR in my ball gown,” she says.
Milley said her husband was the guest speaker that evening, so after helping revive the victim, she returned to dinner and danced.
“I’ve been a nurse for a long time, for 33 years,” she said, including working in intensive care and emergency rooms. “A lot of how you react is muscle memory for medical professionals and it takes about a second to figure it all out, and then someone’s life depends on the actions of others.
She encouraged others to take CPR classes. “Witness intervention can really save lives,” she said.
“It was truly an honor to help a Veteran on Veterans Day,” added Milley.
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