Kenton Health Careers Student Credited With Saving Neighbor's Life

Caelob Wilkins, a Kenmore East senior and a member of the Health Careers program at the Kenton Career and Technical Education Center, has been credited with saving the life of his neighbor, who was experiencing a potentially fatal medical emergency.

Wilkins, who recently earned his Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) certification, is currently engaged in an internship with the Town of Tonawanda Paramedics. He was at his home on Saturday, June 13, when he received a call that his elderly neighbor, Susan Ali, was facing a life-threatening situation and needed immediate assistance. His neighbor undergoes dialysis each day, and the access port for her machine became dislodged, causing significant blood loss from her femoral artery. Before passing out, she managed to contact a friend via phone. Her friend knew Wilkins was the one to call immediately after alerting 911 operators, since it would take several minutes for paramedics to arrive.

Wilkins and his parents immediately rushed over to her house, finding her unconscious on the floor after having lost an extensive amount of blood. Caelob remained calm and immediately took charge of the situation, applying a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. This was critical in those precious few minutes while they waited for emergency responders to arrive on scene.

Wilkins was praised for his quick thinking and ability to apply the skills he had learned through his education and training, which made a life-saving difference. He was also praised for his ability to remain calm during such a critical emergency, as well as the fact that he didn't hesitate to step in and take action.

Wilkins was interviewed about his heroic actions by WKBW and The Buffalo News. 

"I was freaking out," Wilkins told WKBW. "I saw a lot of blood, and I knew I had to stop it. I kept telling her to stay awake, because you don't want them to pass out, and she was thanking us that we were helping her."

"I'm very lucky," Ali told WKBW. "Caelob was more than willing to stay calm and do what needed to be done, and in a very scary situation."

Maggie Rustowicz-Holler and Liz Walgate taught Wilkins in the Health Careers program, and Rustowicz-Holler spoke with The Buffalo News about Wilkins using the tools gained at Kenton.

“I think what's really cool for both these parties is how real the application is of what they learned here,” Rustowicz-Holler told the Buffalo News. “Even if he doesn’t go forward with the career, he has the skills to save lives, which is really cool. He's a kid that wants to do so much with his life. You can tell he genuinely cares about people and wants to make a difference in their lives.”

Wilkins aspires to pursue a career in the emergency response services field and is well on his way, as just last week he became a member of the Brighton Volunteer Fire Department.

(Information and photo courtesy Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda UFSD Communications)