On Wednesday, Jan. 19, I got to experience firsthand some of Hazlet’s good Samaritans.
I am a type-1 insulin-dependent diabetic. On that afternoon I was in Hazlet’s Costco, shopping to replace a broken coffee maker. While shopping, my blood sugars dropped very low, under 30. I was having an insulin reaction, or going into insulin shock. I was in the back of the store when I proceeded to shake and my body probably looked like I was having a convulsion and slowly began to drop to the ground.
Lucky for me one of the store managers named Lauren was nearby and saw me struggling. She actually caught me right before I hit the ground. I don’t remember much of what happened after that. There was a kind woman sitting on the floor talking to me, telling me she was a nurse, asking me questions and trying to take care of me and a man giving me orange juice to drink. The manager got blankets brought into the aisle and covered me with one and put the others around me to serve as a barrier to protect me from hurting myself. They made sure I had orange juice and called the Hazlet Police Department and Hazlet First Aid.
When I was coming around, there were about five police officers along with the first aid squad with me. The kind nurse left me in their care before I had a chance to find out her name. I was able to contact my daughter Kristina to come and pick me up from the store and take me home.
I may not remember much of the details, but I remember the kindness of everyone in the store that day. It can be very scary and awfully embarrassing during an insulin reaction like that. You can become rude and irritable to those very people trying to help you (which I was to the female police officer), and usually after I come around I feel a lot of shame. It was very hard to feel that way with such caring people surrounding me, a perfect stranger on the floor in Costco.
After I was better, I wanted to buy my coffee maker, so the female police officer wheeled the cart to the front and the manager made someone open a register to check me out so we didn’t have to wait on the line. I wish I knew the names of the nurse, the other Costco employees, and the police officers and Hazlet First Aid EMTs, but I was only able to read Lauren’s name off her badge that day.
But I hope they read this and know that they were a huge help to me that day. I appreciate their kindness and their actions. They stayed with me over an hour in that aisle talking to me and caring for me, and I can never thank them enough. Hazlet has some wonderful, caring people working in and around this town, and I am grateful for each of them. From my family and myself, thank you to Lauren and her staff at Costco, the Hazlet Police, the Hazlet First Aid, and the nurse — Hazlet’s good Samaritans.
Cindi Terranova
Hazlet