Samantha Agins: Camp EMT Rushes To Save Disabled Woman, Something Goes Terribly Wrong

Samantha Agins, a young EMT working at a camp for the disabled, rushed to a distressed camper’s side when something went terribly wrong.

The young EMT was working at a camp for the disabled in Pennsylvania when tragedy struck. Samantha Agins died trying to save the distressed camper who suffered from autism, according to NBC News.

The heroic worker spent 30 minutes trying to save the woman, who was said to be in her 40s. Unfortunately, she was not successful, her father said. Samantha Agins, 22, fell ill herself, but paramedics who were called to the scene thought she was in shock from her efforts.

Samantha — who was a senior at East Stroudsburg University — had plans to start a physician’s assistant program after graduation. As part of her training, she needed experience working with patients and became certified as an emergency medical technician.

However, Samantha Agins was mostly dealing with cuts and bruises when the disabled woman went into distress at the camp in the Pocono Mountains Friday night. Although she had the training required, her efforts were too much.

She had to hook up a defibrillator, which instructed her to do chest compressions and CPR, which is very hard, her father said.

When the ambulance arrived, the paramedics relieved Agins but were not able to revive the camper. Samantha appeared to be in shock from her exertions, then she threw up and was “white as a ghost,” according to her father. A spokesman for the camp describes Samantha Agins’ efforts to save the camper “valiant and heroic.”

Her mother was called to the camp and took Samantha home, but when the young EMT got worse, she called 911. By the time the ambulance arrived, the 22-year-old was no longer responsive. Doctors at the Pocono Medical Center determined the young woman had suffered a series of strokes and was transferred to the Thomas Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia.

There, neurosurgeons shared the devastating news with Samantha Agins’ family. She probably had a weakness in her artery, which was damaged further by the CPR, and she would never recover. On Tuesday, the family made the heart-wrenching decision to take their daughter off life support and donate her tissue.

“She could possibly help hundreds more people with that,” Bruce Agins said. “She was always a giver.”

“Knowing she died trying to save a life, which is what she wanted to do, brings a little comfort for us.”

Samantha Agins’ grandmother says the family is devastated at the loss of the dedicated woman, and the only thing that gives them strength is knowing she was trying to help someone. Her father said her legacy is that if you can help someone, you have to try, stating, “She was a hero, because she tried.”

[Image Courtesy of Samantha Agins family/NBC]