Third grader’s school nurse makes lifesaving discovery, mom says

CONCORD TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WOIO/Gray News) - The mother of an Ohio third grader is thanking her daughter’s school nurse for making a discovery she says saved the girl’s life.

Kassie Machado says her daughter, Mia, was saved by Rachel Ocampo, the licensed nurse at Parkside Elementary School. She is now advocating for all schools to have nurses, saying they are a must, WOIO reports.

“I really can’t express this enough... I wish every school would have a real nurse because if she hadn’t been here, it would not have been caught and I could have lost my little girl,” Machado said.

Using her knowledge and expertise, Ocampo was quickly able to identify the signs of anemia in Mia. She told Machado to get her daughter to the doctor right away.

“When she came in, I took one look at her and told her, ‘Lie down.’ She had no blood vessels underneath her eyes, no redness. Her fingers, there was no cap refill,” Ocampo said.

Heeding Ocampo’s advice, Machado took Mia to the pediatrician, where she says “they took one look at her and said she needs to go to the ER now.”

Mia’s blood was drawn at the hospital, and her hemoglobin level was found to be at a three. She was confirmed to be anemic.

“They told me she could have just not woken up if we had not brought her in,” Machado said. “I truly believe that Rachel saved her life.”

Machado is sharing her story because she believes that many parents would not have listened to Ocampo and taken her advice as seriously as she did.

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