ONLY ON ABC-7: Off-duty El Paso nurses save hit-and-run victim’s life

El Paso police say the driver suspected of hitting a man on Easter morning and leaving the scene has turned himself in after watching a news broadcast of the story.

Two off-duty El Paso nurses pulled over to render aid on Gateway Boulevard East on Sunday after a man was struck by a truck driver who drove away.

“We saw him laying on the ground and I got on my knees and touched him and felt a very faint pulse,” said Venessa Nares, a local nurse. I said, ‘You know what, he’s barely there. Let’s start compressions.”

El Paso police say Javier Rivera and Devin Miller were pushing their Camaro, which broke down in the early hours of Easter morning. Police say a truck driver slammed into Miller and sped off, leaving him seriously injured. That’s when Nares and her colleague, Cody Goehry, stepped in to help.

“When we became nurses, we took a pledge to render aid and always within our heart, do what we need to do, medically,” Nares said.

She remembers the exact moment Miller began to regain his strength.

“All of a sudden, I hear him start moaning,” Nares said. “He moved his head left and right, and he was just moaning. That’s when I felt his pulse. Yeah, we had a strong, strong heavy pulse.”

If Nares and Goehry had not rendered aid, she said Miller could have died before paramedics arrived.

“I don’t think he’d be here right now, fighting for his life,” Nares said. “But I did what I had to do, me and my fellow coworker. We did what we got to do.”

Nares said no training could have prepared her for that moment.

“A textbook doesn’t show you how to feel,” Nares said. “Nobody teaches you that. You grow from it, from being a nurse. It’s beautiful. It’s hard to explain, but I’m happy and I really hope he pulls through. I pray for him and his family.”

Family members confirmed Sunday night that Miller made it through surgery, but is still seriously injured.