BOSTON — Dozens of EMTs filled a Boston courtroom today, standing in solidarity with their colleague who was stabbed in an attack in an ambulance Wednesday near the courthouse.
As reported by the Boston Herald, “It was important to be here today for her because she couldn’t be here,” Boston EMS Chief Jim Hooley, flanked by a group of Boston EMTs, said outside Boston Municipal Court. “She couldn’t stand here to face someone who perpetrated this on her.”
Dozens more EMTs from regions as far away as Worcester stood in the hallway of the courthouse, waiting for hours and speaking with each other before the arraignment of Julie Tejeda, 31, the woman charged in Wednesday’s attack.
“We had retired people calling, you see recruits here who started two weeks ago,” Hooley said after the arraignment. “They want to know they’re supporting their brother, their sister.”
The victim, whose identity hasn’t been released, was released from Mass General Hospital today, Boston EMS announced. She was stabbed seven times, including once near a femoral artery and suffered a four-inch deep wound in her abdomen, according to the prosecutor.
Her partner, who inhaled pepper spray while trying to aid the victim in the ambulance, was at the courthouse Thursday, too, Hooley added.
EMTs, most of who left after the initial portion of Tejeda’s hearing before a recess, declined to speak about the incident or their own experiences in the field.
Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins, who sat in on the arraignment, said she was concerned for the victim’s family, specifically her young children who may have seen the news on TV before they got a phone call.
“That’s trauma,” Rollins said. “Their mom goes out and does a job every day that’s incredibly hard, and now she has wounds, literally, wounds that she’s going to physically carry and mentally carry for the rest of her life.”
“You keep your guard up, we’re in the business where we try, we know we’re taking care of people who are in their worst time,” Hooley said.
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