The Day My Sister Became a Hero by Anushka Bhatt

 The Day My Sister Became a Hero

by Anushka Bhatt

My sister Maya has nursing textbooks thicker than my laptop, but I’d only seen her study, never do the thing—until last summer at a free clinic downtown. I was there for snacks and AC, handing out granola bars while she checked vitals.
Then a man staggered in, gasping like the air had punched him. Chaos ripple: people froze, one kid cried, I nearly dropped the snack box. Maya didn’t flinch. She slid an arm under his shoulders, steadied him, and shouted, “Asthma kit here, O2 now!” Her voice cut through the panic like scissors. Someone produced the oxygen; she fitted the mask, counted his breaths, coached him through slow inhales. Seconds stretched, then color crept back into his cheeks.
Later she told me she’d been terrified, but training beat adrenaline. “He needed help more than I needed to panic,” she shrugged, sipping warm Sprite. In that moment I realized healthcare heroes aren’t only lab-coat celebs on TV. They’re students with too much caffeine, volunteers in battered sneakers, people who choose action over fear. Watching my sister that day rewired my definition of “hero”—and, honestly, made me rethink my own career plans.