87-Year-Old Nurse Saves Great-Great-Granddaughter's Life

At 87 years old, Wilma Whitmore thought her days of saving lives were behind her. Then came the midnight knock that proved her wrong.

On April 24, Whitmore's granddaughter Kim Walker burst through the door holding 2-year-old Novalee, who had stopped breathing after a seizure. The toddler's blank stare and silent chest sent the household into chaos, with Kim screaming and dogs barking as Cathy Walker-Whitmore fumbled to dial 911.

But Whitmore, who spent 35 years as an emergency nurse at Lebanon Community Hospital in Oregon, didn't panic. Kim immediately handed Novalee to her great-great-grandmother, knowing exactly who to turn to in a crisis.

Whitmore quickly realized vomit was blocking the child's airway. She flipped Novalee over and pounded on her back, then turned her over to try mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Nothing worked the first time, or the second.

On the third attempt, Whitmore finally felt shallow breaths returning. Novalee's eyes began to respond, and she whispered a tiny "yes" when asked if she wanted her mother. By the time paramedics arrived, the toddler was breathing on her own.

"When it was over, she just collapsed in the kitchen chair and cried," Cathy recalled. "I rubbed her back and told her, 'Thank you for saving her.'"

This wasn't even Whitmore's first midnight rescue. Decades earlier, she saved her own 6-week-old son Jerry using a mucus trap after he stopped breathing from pneumonia. Jerry grew up to become a nurse himself, following his mother, sister, and grandmother into the profession.

Sunny's Take

Cathy says the experience reminded her family of something important: older people still have so much to give. "The elderly feel like they're just kind of useless, but for 87 years old, she's still saving lives," Cathy said. "She's still important, and so many people in this town just love her."

Whitmore retired from nursing in 1997 after helping deliver babies, holding hands with scared patients, and praying with families who needed comfort. She says nursing has changed since her day, but one thing hasn't: the power of experience when it matters most.

Novalee is doing fine now, and her great-great-grandmother is still keeping watch from her home on Mountain View Road. Thank God she was there.