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Lutheran General nurse honored for saving driver’s life
Advocate Lutheran General Hospital nurse June Urban was honored by the village of Wheeling for saving the life of heart attack victim Thomas Ziegler, right. | Contributed photo
Updated: January 21, 2013 2:08PM
PARK RIDGE — June Urban can be considered a local hero. The Wheeling resident and emergency room nurse at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge saved a man by giving him CPR after he had a heart attack while driving his vehicle. She was honored by the village of Wheeling, which is where the incident and her heroic acts took place.
Q: How long have you worked as an ER nurse at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital? A:
Nine years. I’ve been employed at the hospital for over 23 years. I was an ICU nurse for 11 years and on the floor for three.
Q: Have you always wanted to be in the medical field?A:
I’ve wanted to do this for as long as I can remember.
Q: Can you describe the situation where you recently saved a man’s life? A:
I dropped the kids off at school and I saw a car that was stalled in the middle of the intersection. He (drove) head-on into a building. I called 911 from my car. Another bystander happened to be there. Both of us did CPR on him. He was not breathing and had no pulse. We found out later he had a heart attack. He came in the hospital awake and talking.
Q: What were you feeling and thinking when you were saving his life? A:
I was scared to death. At work you have all the equipment in the world and (here) I had nothing. I was concerned that he wasn’t going to live.
Q: How does it feel to be recognized for your heroic actions? A:
I don’t do well with being in the spotlight. It’s very nerve-wracking for me. I’m very honored that they took the time to honor me. The victim was there and helped present the award. It was quite incredible.
Q: Was it nice to see him there?A:
I don’t even know if I can describe that. It was incredible to see the same person standing up and talking.
Q: Have you ever come close to experiencing anything else like this?A:
I can’t compare this to anything at work. At work you have a ton of other people and equipment. It has happened to me before when a girl had a seizure. All I had to do was turn her. This was the first time I had to do CPR on the field.
Q: What is the most challenging part of your job and what is the most rewarding aspect of your job?A:
The most rewarding part is seeing people do well, get better and go home, and to save them. The most challenging is trying to save them. I work with a great team. Nobody goes down alone, so to speak.~.
