Many people will recognize Mike Sullivan as the friendly face in the Parkland Health Center mini-bus, driving patients and visitors back and forth between the parking lot and the front entrance of the hospital. Recently, when a passenger’s baby was having trouble breathing, Sullivan became more hero than friend.
“All I did was make the quick decision to drive around to the ambulance entrance instead of the ER entrance, and knocked on the sliding door,” says Sullivan. “They came and let us in, and one of the nurses grabbed the baby from the mom because the baby was having a hard time breathing. What the baby needed was for a nurse to open up the airway.”
The mom and family were so grateful to Sullivan for helping to save their baby’s life that the mom posted a thank you to “the guy who drives the bus at Parkland” on a local social media site.
While Sullivan was quick to take action, he is not quick to take any credit. “It wasn’t me, it was the ER who saved the baby’s life,” he said. “All I did was transport them.”
Sullivan has worked at Parkland for nearly 44 years, including his years at Mineral Area Regional Medical Center, which merged with Parkland several years ago.