Lejeune High School Nurse and Teacher Honored After Saving a Life

Lejeune High School Nurse and Teacher displaying their American Red Cross Lifesaving Award.

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Group photo of Lejeune High School Nurse and Teacher with Red Cross employees.

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Lejeune High School Nurse shaking hands with a Red Cross employees.

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Lejeune High School Teacher displaying his American Red Cross Lifesaving Award while standing next to a Red Cross employee.

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February 09, 2026

Monday, Sept. 8, began like any other school day at Lejeune High School on Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Classes were underway and nothing felt out of the ordinary. Suddenly, without warning, a long-term substitute teacher collapsed in the front office.

School nurse Betty Thompson was nearby and responded immediately. She assessed the situation and began CPR while a member of the office staff ran to retrieve the nearest automated external defibrillator (AED).

“Fifteen years of teaching CPR and forty years as a registered nurse all came together in that moment,” Betty said. “Working with crash carts, teaching AED protocols here in the building, it paid off.”

As Betty performed CPR, teacher Bradley Helsel arrived and asked if she needed help. When she asked him to take over compressions, he stepped in without hesitation.

“There was no hesitation,” Bradley said. “I just reacted, and it felt like God took control over my hands and my arms, and I just did what I was trained to do. It was like witnessing a miracle.”

The individual had no pulse and was not breathing. Betty prepared the AED and delivered a shock. Moments later, Bradley was asked to check for a pulse.

“I could feel it come back,” he said. “It started faint and then got stronger. That is when we stopped CPR and EMS arrived. We stepped back and let them take over.”

Soon after, the individual began breathing again and regained consciousness. Emergency responders transported the substitute teacher to the hospital for further evaluation and care. According to the school, the individual survived.

For Betty, the experience reinforced the importance of CPR training.

“Everyone should know CPR,” she said. “She came back the other week and was saying, ‘I need a hug, I need a hug!’ I asked if she was okay, and she told me the doctors said if CPR had not been done when it was, she might not have survived. I told her I’m just the venue and tool that God used to make it happen.”

Because of quick action, teamwork, and training, a life was saved. On Jan. 7, Betty and Bradley were presented with the American Red Cross Lifesaving Award for their heroic action.