Courtesy Photo | New York Naval Militia Marines Sgt. Luis Giralde and Lance Cpl. Patricio Rubilar, and...... read more read more
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NEW YORK—An Army Guardsman and two Naval Militia members moved quickly to save a life, when a 23-year-old woman seeking asylum in the U.S. slashed her wrist in a suicide attempt on the morning of July 22 at the Holiday Inn Queens.
Army Guard Staff Sgt. Adam Perez, and Naval Militia Marines Sgt. Luis Giralde and Lance Cpl. Patricio Rubilar, were on duty that Saturday morning when the young migrant woman appeared in the lobby of the hotel.
The three men, serving as part of the Joint Task Force Asylum Seeker detail at the hotel, were at the front desk of the hotel when they heard somebody asking for help in Spanish, Perez recalled. They responded right away.
Since October of 2022, members of the New York Army and Air National Guard, the New York Naval Militia, and the New York Guard, have been on duty in up to 50 New York hotels and other locations assisting New York City with over 90,000 migrants. The migrants, who arrived in the U.S. claiming asylum, were bused to the city from Texas and other border states.
At the end of July, there were 1,660 service members on the mission, and about 54,800 migrants relying on services from New York City.
The three service members quickly saw that the young woman had blood seeping down her right arm, Perez said. Giralde, a Naval Militia member from Flushing, grabbed a bandage from the hotel first aid kit and instantly went to work on her wrist. He wrapped it with a bandage and then began applying pressure, Perez said.
Rubilar, a Spanish speaker from Huntington, began talking to the young woman to find out what had happened and calm her down.
Perez, a Baldwin resident, and the leader of the hotel’s 11-person Alpha shift, said he immediately contacted the New York City Department of Homeless Services rep at the Holiday Inn, who called emergency medical services and the New York police department.
Originally, the young woman said she had cut herself when she fell, Perez said. She had scrapes and bruises, along with the cuts on her arm.
But as she spoke to Rubilar and Perez, she admitted that she had thought about killing herself and cut herself with a shaving razor, the sergeant said.
“We could speak to her in her native language, so she calmed down,” he said. “She wanted to go back home, and she missed her homeland.”
“I think when she saw the blood, that kind of freaked her out,” he added.
The young woman had come into the lobby at 7:05 a.m. and by 7:15 the three task force members had bandaged her injuries and by 7:20 Emergency Medical Services was on the scene.
The three task force members handled everything professionally, said Lt. Col. Aaron Lefton, the task force commander.
“I’m extremely proud of this team’s quick actions to save a life,” he said.
“We are grateful they were in the right place at the right time and willing to act, Lefton added.
She was transported to Cornell Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan and kept for observation for three days, Perez said. Then she was back at the Holiday Inn, but she wasn’t ignored, he added.
The young woman’s mother, who is also in the hotel checked on her regularly, as did the New York City homeless services workers and the Soldiers, Airmen and Naval Militia members on the task force, Perez said.
It’s easy to understand why this poor woman was upset, Perez said. She was born and raised someplace else and now she’s in whole new environment.
“These migrants are going through some tough times,” he said. “It’s not all sunshine and rainbows,” he added.
He, Giralde, and Rubilar, are glad they could be there when she needed them, he said.
“We are just here to help. As New Yorkers we have been through a lot, and we want to help. And as service members you learn to respond when somebody needs help.”
| Date Taken: | 07.31.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 07.31.2023 10:40 |
| Story ID: | 450313 |
| Location: | NEW YORK, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 519 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Three New York military forces members act fast to aid suicidal asylum seeker, by Eric Durr, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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