MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif., April 12, 2016 -- It was late into the night when Navy Chief Petty Officer Jaclyn Place, a hospital corpsman here, heard screams for help coming from her neighbor’s home.
“I was actually doing some homework, my daughter was asleep, when I initially heard the screaming,” recalled Place, the leading chief petty officer for Headquarters Regimental Aid Station, 1st Marine Logistics Group. “The volume was escalating. That’s when I decided to go outside and noticed [my neighbor] was calling for me. As soon as I opened the door I saw her -- then a flash-- it was him running. She was screaming ’J, he stabbed me,’ and as she turned I saw blood all the way down her back. I had a fight-or-flight second, and then went to work.”
While assessing the victim, Place called to another neighbor, Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Thomas McDonald, with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, instructing him to bring his first aid medical bag. McDonald brought an entire trash bag full of medical supplies, while a third neighbor, Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Vincent Bryan, with the Marine Logistics Group, came upon the scene and called 911.
“Upon my first assessment, my eyes were drawn automatically to her radial artery. It was most definitely severed,” Place said. “The cut was very, very deep. By the time I got her to lie down and put a compression bandage on, the grandmother came up and was screaming that he was stabbing her granddaughter.”
Springing Into Action
With complete disregard for her own safety, Place ran after the assailant to save the victim’s daughter.
“I was just thinking she was a baby and he was chasing her. It was awful,” Place said. “I think your mom instincts kick in. Her [mother’s] last words before she fell unconscious were ‘go get my baby’. I think anyone would have done the same thing. When I got there [her daughter] was almost unconscious. Her whole face was cut up.”
Upon arriving at the scene, the assailant had been restrained by another neighbor, so Place jumped over him to immediately render aid to the 14 year-old girl. She was lying in a pool of blood and struggling to breathe. Place immediately recognized that she had a severe chest wound.
Place immediately took command of the scene, instructing the neighbors to reposition the girl to ease her breathing and maintain her airway. She then instructed them to apply pressure to the stab wounds on the young girl’s face and a more serious wound to the left side of her ribs that was bleeding profusely. Place applied a seal to the wound, preventing air from being trapped in the young girl’s chest that could have led to a life-threatening tension pneumothorax.
“Luckily I had a great team,” Place said. “It wouldn’t have a happened without [the Marines]. That corpsman- Marine team was amazing. That dynamic is so sacred. We all knew what to do and worked off each other. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did. They were calm, cool, and collected. I love our corpsman and Marine relationship.”
Due to Place’s calm leadership, medical expertise, and decisive action, both the mother and her daughter survived this violent attack and were home from the hospital within weeks. Their injuries would likely have resulted in severe morbidity or death if not for the quick responses of Place and the Marines. For her efforts, Place is now considered part of the victim’s family.
“I’m indebted to her. She’s the reason why I have my daughter here still. She is family now,” said Jennifer Barela, one of the survivors. “All I can say is thank you and I love you, and if it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t have my daughter here. You know, you love your kids, but then you really realize how deeply you love your children when they are almost taken from you.”
Behind Closed Doors
This unfortunate incident not only changed the lives of the victims but brought to light another troubling issue.
“I think this a prime example of domestic violence,” Place said. “I think we all have our own personal situations and pasts, and my first thought is I never suspected this. I passed them twice a day going home and leaving. I knew she was quiet, but I never thought to ask her [if she was ok].
“I didn’t want to get in her business, but sometimes you have to realize that it’s ok to get into people’s business; because maybe if I would have gotten into her business, if I would have opened that door two seconds sooner, would he have been scared and not chased her daughter? Never be afraid to ask,” she said.
Place was awarded an Impact Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for her selfless and decisive actions that saved the lives of her neighbors. The Marines were each awarded Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals.
Despite taking charge during a devastating situation and saving the lives of two civilians, Place insists that she was just doing what corpsmen do.
“A million things were going through my head in that 15-second run to the back of the building. Honestly though, I was just thinking ‘corpsman,’ every training I ever had in the military,” she said. “What I feel good about now is that when I walked away from it and I looked down [at myself] and saw the blood everywhere, I thought, well if she doesn’t make it I know looking back I wouldn’t have done anything different. I know what I did as a corpsman. I did everything I could have done.”