By John Dempsey, WLS-AM News
(CHICAGO) A woman from Naperville was in the right place at the right time on Monday, as a man stabbed four people at the University of Texas in Austin. Leona Di Amore of Naperville was at the school visiting her daughter, when a 21-year old mentally ill man went on a stabbing rampage.
Di Amore told “The Big John and Ray Show” that she decided to rush in and help safe the life of one of the victims.
“First and foremost my intuition that something was really not right. Secondly I think it’s a miracle that I decided to run out of a building and then run in the opposite direction into a parking lot, and in the parking lot was this kid.’
Di Amore says her military training quickly kicked in as she helped the young man.
“My military training. I was with E.O.D. Explosive Ordnance Disposal. They are the Navy divers Special Ops guys who build bombs and disarm bombs. I was their medic for five years. The first thing you do is make sure the scene is safe so that I don’t end up as a casualty as well, and get us in a safe area and make sure you know what’s going on around you. And then stop the bleeding because the kid was gonna end up bleeding out and he was in a parking lot by himself. Stop the bleeding, and keep him calm.”
Austin Police tell the Associated Press that the man arrested in the case — Kendrex J. White, 21, of Kileen, Texas — suffers from mental health issues and has been involuntarily committed for treatment in another city. Police say he stabbed four people, killing one of them. He was charged with murder, and additional charges are expected.
However the victim that Leona Di Amore helped save, is going to survive, and has been released from the hospital. The woman, who is also a chiropractor in Naperville, told WLS she did what she felt she had to do.
“Keep him calm and I just didn’t let him know how bad it was. And I just put my hand on him and introduced myself and said ‘My name is Leona. And you are safe and you are protected, and I got you. You are good. I got you.’”
@ 2017 WLS-AM News
