A Kentucky teenager’s rapid thinking, in a life-threatening moment, led her to save the life of a gunshot victim. The teenager is now saluted for carrying out such a heroic act.

“I knew it was serious because when I saw him sitting on the sidewalk, I could see it in his eyes,” shared Adam Carter, the father of 16-year-old Nylaia Carter.

As seen on Atlanta Black Star, on the evening of August 31, after leaving her basketball practice, in Louiseville, Kentucky, the father and daughter duo drove by a man that looked to be in agonizing pain.

“There was a man that was sitting in an upright position on the sidewalk, and I said, he doesn’t look good, and it looks like he’s been shot and Nylaia said stop,” continued Adam Carter.

Courier-Journal reported once they turned around and returned to the location of the unidentified man, where he sat next to his car, the Carters’ intuition proved to be real.  The man was shot a few minutes before the two spotted him in distress, and he tried driving himself to the hospital, and couldn’t make it, due to the amount of blood loss.

Nylaia begged her dad to go back and when they turned around to check on the victim, he was covered in blood.  The 16-year-old’s quick thinking and courageous heart possibly saved his life, as she approached the man with the intention to help him immediately.

“It’s protocol to say, ‘I’m Nylaia Carter, I’m trained to stop the bleeding, can I help you? and his response was yes,” said Nylaia.

The valiant Louisville teenager shared that she received the training from an emergency procedures class at the high school she attends, and the class also trains students to provide aid for other emergencies, such as stabbings, and seizures.  She said she immediately pulled a sweatshirt out of her backpack and created a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.

“I started checking his pulse and seeing if all his vital signs are there and to see if he’s conscious,” Nylaia said. “I tried to find the wound and I thought it was on the lower abdomen, leg sort of area because there was so much blood down there, but it was actually on his left arm,” the teen went on to share.

Carter declared that the gunshot victim had lost so much blood, it made her nervous to jump into action. She applied pressure to the wound to restrict the bleeding, and after about five minutes, the paramedics arrived on the scene and proceeded to care for the victim.  It was then that the severity of the situation kicked in for the Carters.

A proud Adam Carter mentioned seeing his daughter’s perseverance to help someone in need was heartwarming.

“To see her spring into action, and not have any fear, and it seemed like it was normal to her, it was a confirmation to me that she has a call to doing this type of work,” noted Adam Carter.

The Carters shared that they were able to visit the gunshot victim in the hospital several days after the incident.

Louisville police stated to WDRB, “after first responders arrived, the man was rushed to University of Louisville hospital and is expected to survive thanks in part to Nylaia’s quick action” and police are still looking for the shooter.

“I was nervous going into see him, but it was good to see all his family surrounding him laughing and talking when I went in there, it wasn’t sad, they were happy to see me,” Nylaia expressed, upon the encounter with the man she helped save before paramedics arrived.

“Maybe if my daughter hadn’t been there, they don’t know if he would have made it at all, so she gave him a chance,” declared  Adam Carter of his daughter.

Nylaia says upon graduating high school, she has plans to study physical therapy at an HBCU.