VA national program honors VA Augusta physician for heroism in the community

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Resuscitation Education and Innovation (REdi) program traveled to VA Augusta Health Care System Tuesday afternoon to honor VA Augusta physician Dr. Vasu Lakkimsetti for his heroism in the community, presenting him with a VA REdi coin. Lakkimsetti was the first VA employee in the nation to receive the new, prestigious honor.

“Dr. Lakkimsetti’s actions and heroism speak to the caliber of employee at VA Augusta,” said Oscar G. Rodriguez, Acting Executive Director at VA Augusta Health Care System. “The compassion and concern of our providers and staff doesn’t end when they leave the walls of their workplace. For folks like Vasu Lakkimsetti, helping others isn’t a career, it’s a calling.”

While cycling with his son near Augusta, Georgia, in 2023, Dr. Lakkimsetti heard frantic cries coming from a nearby swift-water creek. The desperate screams came from the father of a 9-year-old boy who had lost control of his bike, plummeting into the water. Standing waist-high in frigid water, the father had been trying to locate his son for several minutes.

Lakkimsetti threw himself into the search, moving up and down the stream with no luck. Eventually, he noticed a blue shoe. Lakkimsetti jumped into the water to help the father pull the boy to a nearby slab of rock, his body limp and his lips blue.

“I think he probably fell down and then got pinned under water,” said Lakkimsetti. “So, we put him on the rock, and I started doing CPR.”

While he directed the father to deliver some rescue breaths, Lakkimsetti stabilized the boy on the inclined rock with one hand, while conducting chest compressions with the other. Eventually, the boy vomited, and color began to return to his lips. By this time, emergency services arrived and transported him to a local hospital.

After a day or so of tense waiting, Dr. Lakkimsetti began receiving text updates from the father. The boy had begun stabilizing. Soon, he was breathing easily without a ventilator and making great progress. Ultimately, he experienced a full recovery.

“When we were in the hospital, Dr. Lakkimsetti showed a lot of concern for my son’s health. He frequently called and left messages, and on the day we were discharged, he came to see us,” the father said. “Without any hesitation, Dr. Lakkimsetti jumped into the water and saved my son’s life. Words cannot express how grateful we are.”

For more information about the VA Augusta Health Care System and its services, please visit www.augusta.va.gov.

Media seeking coverage of the REdi award or Dr. Lakkimsetti’s act of heroism can email Will Martin, VA Augusta Chief of Public Affairs, at William.Martin6@va.gov. 

Will Martin, Chief of Public Affairs

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