Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

County honors UNLV med student who helped save man’s life before Raiders game

Groesbeck

Clark County

Elizabeth Groesbeck, a third-year UNLV medical student, is honored by the Clark County Commission with a proclamation, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. Groesbeck is credited with helping save a man’s life following a hit-and-run crash on Aug. 14, 2021.

Before the Clark County Commission declared Oct. 5 “Elizabeth Groesbeck Day,” the third-year UNLV medical student was quick to recognize others who stepped up to help a hit-and-run crash victim whose life she’s credited with helping save this summer. 

“It’s an honor to be here,” she said from the commission’s chambers. “I would like to point out, though, that I’m not the only one who helped in this event.” 

Groesbeck was on her way to a Raiders game Aug. 14 when she spotted a man sprawled on the ground near Allegiant Stadium, severely injured.

During the short proclamation ceremony Tuesday morning, Commissioner Michael Naft rehashed what happened next:

She leaped out of her rideshare, instructed a bystander to call 911 and another to console the victim’s wife. She borrowed a belt to use as a tourniquet, while a Raiders fan took off his jersey to wipe blood from the man’s mouth. 

The man, who ultimately lost an arm, was rushed to University Medical Center, where he was treated by trauma chief Dr. Douglas Fraser. 

Groesbeck, a Henderson resident, pointed out that Fraser taught her life-saving emergency treatment at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV. 

“Liz’s quick and selfless actions, and well-learned emergency medicine and triage training saved the victim that day,” Naft said. 

Groesbeck used her remarks to highlight the man she saved and the economic plight of the family, whom she’s met. She plugged a GoFundMe campaign organized to help pay for a prosthetic limb for the man. 

“One of the things I’m very passionate about is that no family should have to be financially ruined after a catastrophic emergency,” Groesbeck said. 

When she graduates medical school, she wants to help “fix the system,” she said. “I’m far away from being able to do that and I don’t have the answers,” she added, noting that highlighting the victim’s story is a start. “They don’t deserve to have another catastrophe on their hands.”