BANGKOK: A veteran Thai nurse has won widespread praise after treating Buddhist monks injured in a deadly road crash despite a longstanding religious taboo against women touching monks.
Wiwat Laonoi, who came upon the scene in Mukdahan province while driving to run errands on July 2, called for an ambulance before identifying herself as a nurse and treating the injured monks after finding that no emergency responders had yet arrived,
Mothership reported.
"People told me, 'Wait, that's a monk!', but I said it doesn't matter; right now, this is a patient," she said after a pickup truck crashed into 35 monks taking part in a religious procession, leaving 10 dead and about 10 others still in hospital as of July 3, including two in critical condition.
Laonoi, who has worked as a nurse for nearly four decades, described the crash as devastating and said she had never seen anything like it, adding that she assessed the injured, performed CPR on monks with no pulse, and made difficult decisions about whom to help first until hospital staff and rescue teams arrived about five minutes later.
"I'm glad I was able to help because this was the biggest accident I have ever encountered in my career," she said, adding that she also told Thairath Online: "Everyone struggled to decide whom to help first because all were severely injured."
In a
Facebook post on July 3, the Nurses' Association of Thailand commended Laonoi for her selflessness, composure and professionalism in responding to the tragedy.
