Quick thinking NYPD Officer James Atkins saved his sergeant's life

by defying her orders !!!




Police Officer James Atkins disobeyed a direct order from his sergeant - and it saved her life.

Sgt. Grevirlene Kersellius, 42, was recovering from a brain aneurysm at Roosevelt Hospital on Tuesday, her prognosis good, because Atkins insisted on rushing her to the hospital when she complained of a bad headache.

"Thank you for not listening to me," the tearful 19-year NYPD veteran told Atkins.

"She looked bad and I made the decision to take her straight to the hospital," said Atkins, 41. "When I found out what it was I was like, 'Wow!'"

She and Atkins, with 20 years on the job, are assigned to Transit District 3 in Harlem.

They were racing to a call of a man with a gun June 20, lights and siren blaring, when Kersellius felt excruciating pain in the front of her head and the back of her neck.

"It was like I had a ton on my head and I couldn't hold it up," recalled the mother of three boys.

They reached 96th St., and Atkins bolted from the driver's seat into the station looking for the gunman.

Kersellius said she mustered all her strength to follow her partner to make sure he was okay.

That's when Atkins noticed she was in distress.

She told Atkins she wasn't feeling well and ordered him to take her back to their office.

"Sarge, I'm taking you to the hospital," he said. She insisted on going to the office, but he was even more insistent.

"He was driving and holding me up, saying, 'Stay with me, Sarge!'"

Atkins rushed Kersellius to St. Luke's Hospital, where a CAT scan showed bleeding at the base of her brain.

She was quickly transferred to Roosevelt Hospital, where Dr. Rafael Ortiz, a neuroendovascular surgeon, performed a five-hour operation to insert platinum coils to prevent further bleeding.

Atkins' insubordination proved vital.

"One-third of people with this die, and one third have a bad neurological outcome," Ortiz said.

"The chance of a good outcome is better if the patient comes in right away."

Ortiz said Kersellius' progress has been good.

After a few more days of monitoring in the hospital, she'll go to rehab.

Kersellius learned a valuable lesson, one she is encouraging others to follow: Don't take a bad headache lightly.

"Don't hesitate to go to the emergency room," she implored.

And of Atkins, she started to call him an angel, then paused.

"I call him my savior," Kersellius said.



poshaughnessy@nydailynews.com