When Carrie Stephenson, a school nurse who works at West Bernis Middle School went in for work, she thought it was going to be just like any other normal days.
But everything soon changed when she was notified that a 7th grader named Isaiah Griffin needed to be checked.
Everyone thought that Isaiah had the flu, which was going around the school at that time. So he was just about to be sent home so he could rest.
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But when Carrie saw Isaiah’s eyes, she immediately noticed that he had something more life-threatening than just a flu. His eyes were rolling around. Not only that, Isaiah was vomiting, Isaiah was going in and out of consciousness.
“I honestly thought he was fixin’ to die,” said Carrie during her interview with The Jackson Sun.
She knew something was seriously wrong, so Carrie asked one of the school staffs to call for an ambulance. While waiting for the ambulance to come, Carrie stayed right beside Isaiah and monitored his breathing, blood pressure, and told Isaiah not to fall asleep.
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When Isaiah was finally rushed to Lebonheur Children’s Hospital
It turned out that he had a blood clot located just an inch away from his brain.
Isaiah was having a stroke, and Carrie had thankfully caught it on time.
Deborah Griffin, Isaiah’s mother, recalled how scared she was when she got the call from the school. She immediately got on her car and drove to Memphis. “I was driving, crying, and praying. It was the longest drive. I thought I would never get there,” said Deborah.
And when she arrived at the hospital, doctors did not tell her the good news that she was hoping to hear. They said that Isaiah only had a 50 percent chance of survival.
Deborah was devastated, and crying in the waiting room. That’s when she got a phone call from Carrie, who asked if Deborah wanted to pray together for Isaiah.
“[If not] for her quick thinking and for what she did and stuff, Isaiah would not have been here.. I could have been planning a funeral. He could have not seen his 14th birthday,” said Deborah.
Thankfully, though, Isaiah’s surgery was successful and he woke up.
Deborah then contacted Carrie, who came to visit him. And he remembered her!
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“You’re the lady that helped me. You grabbed my cheeks and told me I was going to be ok,” said Isaiah. He then added, “Ms. Carrie has given me a gift. It’s just the most precious gift she could have given me.”
Even with such praise and recognition from all over the nation, Carrie remained extremely humble and said that she was just doing her job.
“To me it was just the grace of God showing through. God was all over that,” said Carrie.
What a save! If not for Carrie’s decision to act quickly, Isaiah may not have made it to his 14th birthday.