By Erika Pesantes
Sun Sentinel
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A birthday celebration at a downtown nightclub earlier this month turned bloody when a bar patron slipped and cut an artery on her wrist with a broken beer bottle — a potentially deadly injury.
Fort Lauderdale police officer Nick Rollins spotted the bleeding woman, who had her wrist elevated with a napkin over the wound, and sprang into action.
Recognizing how serious the cut to the artery was, he applied a tourniquet to Jenon Wehby’s arm to help stop the bleeding.
“If he hadn’t done what he did, my wife may not be here today,” Jeremy Wehby said. “This could have shattered our world.”
Jeremy Wehby joined police during roll call Wednesday to publicly show his gratitude to the officer who saved the life of his wife and mother to their four children, ages 6 to 12.
“According to the ER doctors, he saved a life,” said Police Chief Franklin Adderley before roll call.
On Sept. 6, the Wehbys were celebrating the birthday of a friend’s wife at Vibe on Las Olas Boulevard. Jenon Wehby, 38, slipped while holding a beer in hand and cut herself with the broken glass when she fell to the ground, her husband said.
The deep gash on her left wrist bled profusely. Rollins was nearby working an off-duty detail.
Jeremy Wehby said Rollins quickly came to his wife’s aid as he debated the quickest way to the hospital: hailing a cab or waiting for the ambulance. The officer comforted the Plantation couple as Jeremy Wehby began to “freak out.”
“He was like a ninja,” Wehby said, “He was all over the place.”
After Rollins applied the tourniquet, Jenon Wehby went to the hospital by ambulance where doctors stitched her up. She remains recovering at home to regain full use of her arm, her husband said.
On Wednesday, Rollins said he was appreciative that Wehby took the time to say thanks and extended kudos to fellow officers who also help people daily.
“This is a very positive experience for me and all of us,” Rollins said. “For Jeremy to reach out, even though we do this every day, that’s a huge feeling.”
The road patrol officer is also on the SWAT team and has been with the police department for nine years.
It’s not the first time Rollins has been recognized for a life-saving act. More than five years ago, he and other officers received a departmental life-saving award for helping rescue children from a Fort Lauderdale house fire, he said.
After the grateful husband handed Rollins a brand-new tourniquet to replace the one used on his wife, he suggested Rollins also get a treat from his boss.
“He should get a couple days off, chief,” he told Adderley before roll-call.
Copyright 2014 the Sun Sentinel