Openly Gay 20 Year Old Intern Daniel Hernandez Hailed As Hero Credited With Saving Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords Life

AzCentral.com is reporting on Daniel Hernandez, an intern for United States Representative Gabrielle Giffords for five days when she was shot Saturday outside a Safeway supermarket in Tucson, the junior at the University of Arizona aiding people check in at Giffords’ “Congress on Your Corner” event when he heard gunfire. He said he ran towards the sound of the shots, not aware if the “gunfire had stopped.” He says he saw many victims lying on the ground, including a young girl, and began checking pulses – “First the neck, then the wrist.” One man was already dead. Then Hernandez saw Giffords, fallen, lying contorted on the sidewalk, and bleeding. The 20 year old, using his hand, applied pressure to the entry wound on her forehead, pulling her into his lap, holding her upright so she would not choke on her own blood. Giffords was conscious, but quiet. He continued to use his hands until someone brought him clean smocks from inside the Safeway meat department, and he used those to apply pressure on the entrance wound, unaware that there was an exit wound. He would never let go of Giffords, staying until the paramedics arrived on scene, and strapped her to a board, and loaded her into an ambulance. Hernandez climbed inside with her. On the ride, he held her hand. She squeezed it back. When they arrived at the hospital, Hernandez was covered in blood. His family brought him clean clothes since the FBI needed his for evidence. He waited while the Representative underwent surgery, at one point hearing – falsely – that Giffords had died. When he learned she had indeed lived he said “I was ecstatic. She’s one of the people I’ve looking up to. Knowing she was alive and still fighting was good news. She’s definitely a fighter, whether for her own life, or standing up for people in southern Arizona.” Hernandez, who confirmed that he is openly gay, is credited with saving Giffords’ life. “You just have to be calm and collected,” he said. “You do no good to anyone if you have a breakdown ... It was probably not the best idea to run towards the gunshots, but people needed help.”