by Whitney Robison
Imagine you are competing in one of the biggest events of your life. You are about to cross the finish line, when all of the sudden all of your competitor’s crash and fall next to you. Do you continue the race? Or do you stop and help? CMU nursing student, Cullen Easter, did what any selfless hero would do: Help those in need.
This summer, Easter was cycling in a nationally promoted race in China, The Tour of Qinghai Lake. It is a professional 13 stage race, which travels through 11 cities and three provinces. Arguably one of the toughest cycling races in the world and with the highest average altitude, the Tour of Qinghai Lake brought in roughly two million spectators and approximately 150 cyclists. Out of that 150 who competed, unfortunately some did not get to finish.
On the very first day of the race – about three kilometers or less away from the finish line of the first stage – the 150 cyclists were careening down the road at speeds of 45 miles per hour when out of nowhere an unwanted spectator came running out into the middle of the road. Within seconds dozens of cyclists crashed over him, Easter being one of them.
“It was chaos,” Easter said.
Everything happened so fast, but once Easter heard a team of Italian cyclists screaming and panicked over one of their injured teammates, Easter’s nursing instincts kicked in. Not thinking twice of the finish line ahead, he rushed over to the injured man and immediately started to help him.
“I saw a pool of blood, and he had a gash in his head about the size of a half dollar. You could see his skull,” Easter said.
He cleared his teammates away and explained to them that he was a nurse. The injured cyclist, later identified as Italian, Dall’Antonia Tiziano, was conscious but out of it. Easter shouted to a spectator for her jacket so he could apply pressure to his wound. He sat there patiently with Tiziano trying to talk to him and make him feel as comfortable as possible.
Easter sat and cared for Tiziano until medics arrived. Tiziano was immediately airlifted and the medics said that he would be okay. Once Easter realized his job was done, he hopped back on his bike and finally finished the race.
Two to three other cyclists did not finish the race due to injuries as well, but none were life threatening. Easter suffered minor injuries along with many others involved in the crash but was able to complete the tour.
The footage from the race is available on YouTube.
The spectator ran out from the median on the road straight into oncoming bike traffic and then got flipped into the air from the force of the dozens of bikes crashing into him. He was found with no shoes on his feet from the force of the impact and unconscious. Police immediately detained him after making sure he was okay. Easter stated that the locals were explaining that the spectator was the “local crazy guy” with possible mental health issues; which could explain his actions, but no one is certain.
Although the first day of the race was not the best start, the remaining cyclists completed the 14-day bike tour with Easter finishing in 36 place overall. Regardless of what place he took, Easter’s actions were commendable and deserving of appraise.
Sue Goebel, a professor in the nursing program, said, “He never shines the spotlight on himself. He is so humble and positive.” Sue had nothing but good things to say about Easter, and his actions certainly show just that.
Despite the fact that he crashed and people were injured, he learned something about himself and about his school that day.
“The coolest part about the whole experience,” Easter said. “was that I thought I wouldn’t remember how to help him because I was on summer break. I am so proud to be a part of a university that prepared me for that moment.”
Easter has been a professional cyclist for two years now. He became pro when his brother urged him to try and join “Team Illuminate” (professional cycling team). He made it onto the team and has since raced in six professional races before Qinghai Lake and raced in his last one of the semester this weekend in Reading, Pa. His studies come first or he would love to continue racing throughout the semester with the CMU Cycling team. But for now, he cycles around town in his free time as his stress relief.
Before coming to CMU he was an EMT for two years in downtown Los Angeles and two years in an emergency room. That is where his nursing journey began. The nurses he worked with in the ER all told him that he would be such a great nurse and convinced him to pursue it. At the time, one of his best friends growing up was attending CMU and had told him about the amazing nursing program CMU had to offer. Easter was convinced and had to give it a shot. He came to CMU in 2013 and was finally accepted into the nursing program; now he has nothing but wonderful things to say about the school and its nursing program.
“It is the best program with unbelievable instructors. It is like a family,” Easter said about the nursing program. Since being a student at CMU, Easter has done phenomenally well. Last semester he attained a 4.0 GPA and was awarded onto the President’s list for the 2015-2016 academic year.
Easter will graduate from the nursing program in May 2017. After he graduates he would like to continue his career at CMU and re-apply for the nurse practitioner program to take his love for nursing one step further. Next summer he hopes to race in the Tour of Qinghai Lake once more, but hopefully this time he will not have to use his nursing skills.
