‘Just an act of kindness’

On July 13, Sariah Estrada, 17, got the opportunity to save a life before she even started her nursing degree.

For that, on Republic Day, she was awarded the Humming Bird medal (bronze) for gallantry at the National Awards ceremony at National Academy for the Performing Arts, Port of Spain.

Recounting the incident, Estrada said she and her cousins, Jordan Sutherland, 16, and Kelly Ann De Verteuil, 17, went to Marianne beach near their home in Blanchisseuse with some of their family members.

They were about to leave when they realised a man was far out to sea and he was having difficulties. Sutherland swam out with one end of a rope hoping to use it to rescue the man but it was too short. On seeing that, De Verteuil dived in and swam after Sutherland to help. Together, they brought him to shore where Estrada performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the man revived.

“It happened at the right time because just five days before I participated in basic life-saving training with NCRHA (North Central Regional Health Authority) learning to do CPR and then, five days later I had to put my training into effect... I remember calling mummy and telling her I never expected to use that new skill so soon.”

She said she had not planned to do the course but Kathleen Elie, her mother and a member of the Blanchisseuse Community Council, signed her up for it, to which she was now extremely grateful.

The first year student of the University of the Southern Caribbean is now studying for a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing. She said nursing was her mother’s dream which she adopted, as she always wanted to help and care for people. Her plan was to become a district health visitor in order to help her community, especially as it was difficult to get doctors and nurses to work in the area.

“I thought of being a doctor but in my view the real care of a patient comes from the nurses, so that’s why I decided that nursing was the path I wanted to take. Having this experience, knowing that I am able to do it in a real-life situation, encouraged me even more to pursue the career.”

“When we saw our story on the news and on Facebook, and the Tunapuna Piarco Regional Corporation and the Greater Tunapuna Chamber of Industry and Commerce said they wanted to award us, we were shocked. It was just an act of kindness. We knew we were able to help someone so that’s what we did. We weren’t expecting the recognition and all of these things.”

Estrada said when she heard that she was nominated for a national award she was shocked by the news because she did not expect acknowledgement of her actions on that level. She said on the day of the ceremony she was anxious yet happy to be recognised and proud that she was able to help someone.

She said her schoolmates now recognised her from her story being posted in the school forum or on the news. She said she was a shy person but she was working on it as, since the incident, she did several interviews and interacted with many different people, and it made her want to carry herself with more pride, in her speech, posture and appearance.

Through it all she wanted to encourage Sutherland and De Verteuil to keep pushing forward, keep doing good regardless of circumstances or disappointments.

Elie said it was a very proud moment when she heard of the actions of the three youths. She said after the Tunapuna organisations awarded them she thought that was it and life would go on as usual. Therefore, when she got the call from the Office of the President that her daughter was nominated for a national award she was shocked and wanted to scream with excitement.

“I want to encourage people. There is nothing wrong in doing good, even if you don’t receive an award. It gives you self-comfort and motivation to do even more good,” she said.

Elie added that there were many intelligent young people who may not be academically inclined but were good with their hands. Therefore, as with the NCRHA course, she would like to see more being done for youths in the Blanchisseuse community, specifically trade training and certification, to help them help themselves and get employment in these difficult times.