Code Blue and Sneakers By Anushka Bhatt

 

Code Blue and Sneakers

By Anushka Bhatt

The first time I saw someone die, I was wearing beat-up Nike sneakers and a shirt that said “Lifeguard in Training.”
We pulled into the scene—an old man collapsed at the poolside. Code blue. CPR in progress.

I froze, barely able to keep my gloves from shaking.
My EMT mentor, Josh, barked out, “Bag him! Let’s go!”
And suddenly I was there—holding the mask, pressing oxygen into lungs that might not rise again.

He didn’t make it.
But that night, I didn’t quit. I asked questions. I practiced chest compressions on a dummy until my arms gave out.
I didn’t save him, but I learned. And one day, I will.

That’s the thing about medicine. You see the worst—but also the will to keep going.