One Amazing Nurse

Royersford resident Mary Kay Silverman quite literally saved a woman's life during the 2009 Philadelphia Marathon. 

Now she's a finalist in the Amazing Nurses 2012 contest.

Silverman was nominated for her heroic effort by fellow nurse Palaka Patel.

Silverman, the Director of Emergency Services at Hahnemann University Hospital and an avid marathoner, was running Kelly Drive going in to Manayunk during the marathon when she came upon a young woman, Erica, who had collapsed.

"She was seizing, foaming at the mouth. I called for medics who were nearby but then determined she had no pulse," Silverman said. 

Silverman started CPR and continued until the medics arrived. Knowing Erica was in good hands, she went on to finish the marathon.

"People who get hurt during the marathon usually come to Hahnemann because it's the closest hospital," Silverman said. "So when I got back to work I asked if a young woman had been brought in in cardiac arrest."

Silverman was prepared for bad news, because she knew Erica's condition at the time she was taken away by medics was gravely serious.

"The told me she made it and I found her in the Critical Coronary Care Unit," Silverman said. "It was a heart anomaly that she didn't know she had."

"A few days later I asked the CCU director how she was doing, and they said she was awake, and sitting up, and she wanted to see me," Silverman said. "It was amazing she lived through that."

Silverman went to visit Erica in the CCU and presented Erica with her own finishers' medal from the marathon.

The two have since become friends. Erica has since had open heart surgery at Boston Childrens' Hospital and is running again, three years later. 

Silverman and Erica are running a race together later this year at Walt Disney World. 

If Silverman wins the contest, she would earn a trip to Los Angeles, to attend the 2012 CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute live broadcast show. She would also be featured in a video profile that will be shown to the attendees of the CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute show.

You can vote for Mary Kay Silverman here.