Rep. Giffords' Hero Intern: 'Congresswoman Was Alert'
WASHINGTON, Jan 9, 2011— -- In an exclusive interview with "This Week" anchor Christiane Amanpour, Daniel Hernandez, the intern described by some as the hero who assisted Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords immediately after the Saturday's shooting, provided a first-hand account of the tragic attack in Tucson, Ariz.
"When I heard gunshots, my first instinct was to head toward the congresswoman to make sure that she was okay," Hernandez told Amanpour. "Once I saw that she was down, and there were more than one victim, I went ahead and started doing the limited triage that I could with what I had."
Hernendez had volunteered to assist Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her staff at a meet-and-greet event designed to put the congresswoman in contact with her constituents. The event took a tragic turn when Jared Loughner opened fire on the congresswoman, her staff and the participating constituents.
"When this happened, I kind of just shut off all emotion because I knew I wouldn't be any good to anyone if I had a breakdown," Hernendez remembered. "I had to lift up the congresswoman because she was severely injured, and I wanted to make sure that she was able to breathe okay because there was so much blood."
Hernendez used smocks from the grocery store to bandage the wounded victims.
"The congresswoman was alert. She was able to hold my hand when I asked her if she could hear me," said Hernendez. "I wasn't able to get any words from her. She may have been trying, but because of the way that I was having to hold her it was a lot easier to just 'if you can hear me Gabby just grab my hand to let me know that you're okay.'"
