Kylan “KJ” Eason had never been taught how to apply a tourniquet. He had not been trained to administer first aid, or to clean a wound, or to provide CPR. He is a 13 year-old boy who, like most other teenage boys, has no experience handling imminent medical problems. 

But there was a moment, when Eason looked down at Javeon Young’s mangled, bloody leg, when his prior experience did not matter. He had to act or risk the life of his friend. There was a moment when Eason knew, with knowledge as definitive as instinct, what had to be done. He removed his shirt and tied it two inches around the wound, in the same area a medical professional would have placed it. He picked up a stick off the ground and inserted it into the knot, tightening the tourniquet.