Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Mark Hays | GRAND PRAIRE, Tex. (June 13, 2022) Navy Counselor First Class Ashley Miller, a leading...... read more read more
Cedar Hill, Texas— For Petty Officer First Class Ashley Miller, a routine drive back to her recruiting station one Wednesday morning in June turned into a life-saving act of heroism and bravery along a Texas highway that potentially saved the lives of three strangers.
NC1 Miller, a leading petty officer with Navy Talent Acquisition Group Red River, was returning from a lunch run and was waiting at a traffic light near her Navy Recruiting Station south of Dallas around 1100 on June 7 when she noticed a car in distress traveling in the opposite direction.
“I was looking at the driver, wondering what he was doing because his head was shaking extremely fast,” Miller said.
“I didn’t see anyone else in the car at the time. As he crossed the intersection he was coming right toward me. So I reversed the government vehicle just in time before he hit the concrete barrier at an angle. At first, I thought he hit me. So I put the caution lights on and jumped out to see the damage.”
“He was shaking, his arms were in the air, and I thought he was having a seizure,” Miller said.
What Miller discovered as she ran toward the damaged Kia Telluride on the busy highway overpass instead may have helped save not one, but three lives.
The male driver convulsed in the front seat. Then NC1 discovered a frantic woman and her 4-day-old newborn in the back seat.
“I couldn’t get into the front door due to the position of the car against the barrier,” Miller said. “I opened the back door and saw the newborn, and a visibly shaken mother screaming ‘What’s happening?’ The driver seat was leaned back so I popped it back up and when I did, I noticed blood coming from the man’s mouth.
“We were in the middle of traffic and other people started to come to the scene. I asked someone to call 911.”
That’s when NC1 Miller’s motherly instincts kicked in.
“I pulled the car seat part with the infant out of the car and put her and the mother in my (government vehicle),” Miller said.
The newborn slept through the entire accident. They waited in Miller’s GOV until the ambulance arrived. The family was on their way to their pediatrician’s office for the newborn’s first checkup.
While sitting in her car, NC1 Miller called her division leading chief petty officer, Chief Navy Counselor Scharlanea Cleveland, and asked for her help. Chief Cleveland speaks Spanish and could help calm the mother’s nerves.
“When I arrived, NC1 Miller was sitting in the government vehicle with the baby in her arms, and with the car seat and diaper bag,” Cleveland said.
Cleveland said that she doesn’t know if she could have had the courage that Miller did.
“Even though she was shaken, she acted instantly, observed the scene for safety, and showed warrior toughness,” Cleveland said about NC1 Miller
“So many people were on that street that could have stopped but Miller blocked traffic and ran to the vehicle. She acted instantaneously, in a few more feet that car could have fell off the freeway.”
Miller and Cleveland waited with the baby until the grandparents arrived. After being checked for injuries, the woman joined the man in the ambulance en route to the hospital.
Upon arriving back to the office, Chief Cleveland reflected on what her Sailor did and the impact it will have in the community.
“I’ve been in the Navy 18 years,” Cleveland said. “I think being able to see that besides just recruiting, maintenance, and regular requirements we have, we are actually caring for others, that’s a big deal. When we talk about representing the Navy we talk about creating a brand and reputation, and what we do out here is talk to the community this is not only going to look good for the Navy, but this is going to create a staple in the lives of that family for the rest of their lives. Her reaction and instincts are exactly how you represent this uniform.”
NTAG Red River encompasses 150,000 square miles that includes North Texas and Oklahoma, and consists of 40 Enlisted Recruiting Stations, three Officer Recruiting Stations, and three Military Entrance Processing Stations.
Navy Recruiting Command consists of a command headquarters, two Navy Recruiting Regions, 15 Navy Recruiting Districts and 11 Navy Talent Acquisition Groups that serve more than 815 recruiting stations across the world. Their combined goal is to attract the highest quality candidates to assure the ongoing success of America’s Navy.
For more news from Commander, Navy Recruiting Command, go to http://www.cnrc.navy.mil. Follow Navy Recruiting on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NavyRecruiting), Twitter (@USNRecruiter) and Instagram (@USNRecruiter).
| Date Taken: | 06.07.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 06.13.2022 20:24 |
| Story ID: | 422862 |
| Location: | CEDAR HILL, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 90 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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