It’s not every day that students stop and help a complete stranger on UWM’s campus. But that’s what happened Oct. 1 when Kari Pink, UWM executive communications officer, fell on an uneven sidewalk along Hartford Avenue.
“I knew right away that at least two of my fingers were badly injured,” Pink recalled. “As I sat in on the sidewalk in a daze, I heard a voice say, ‘Are you OK?’ I said, ‘No.’”
The voice belonged to Molly Harrison, a junior majoring in biomedical science and health care administration. Harrison immediately called 911 and waited with Pink for the paramedics to come.
Ella Rohl, a junior and biochemistry major who was passing by at the time, also stopped. She helped Pink stay calm, telling her to take deep breaths and rubbing her back.
As they waited, a third student, Paris Nissen, a sophomore majoring in linguistics, knelt down and offered her hand for Pink to hold. When the ambulance arrived, Nissen went with Pink to the hospital and stayed by her side while she was treated for broken and dislocated fingers.
“I felt so grateful that these three young women stopped what they were doing and helped me through a painful and scary situation,” Pink said. “They were all so thoughtful and kind, and it was a great comfort to have Paris with me in the ER.”
To recognize their good deeds, Chancellor Mark Mone invited Harrison, Rohl and Nissen to Chapman Hall to meet him and Dean of Students Adam Jussel, and to reconnect with Pink.
“You showed extraordinary kindness that day,” Mone said to the three students. “You went out of your way to help someone you didn’t know, and I’m so proud of your actions. Your generosity of spirit is what our UWM community is all about.”
