Pvt. Brady Sims was out enjoying another quiet Saturday in Okinawa, when an Okinawan local’s sudden slip and fall turned into an immediate call to action for the Marine.

Pvt. Sims is a 3531, a motor vehicle operator with 5th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, III Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group. He recalled how his training and instincts as a Marine compelled him to immediately render aid.

On June 7, Sims was shopping in American Village when he and another Marine, LCpl Ryland Sawyer, decided to walk by a nearby beach. During that walk, they noticed a local Japanese woman slip from the concrete barriers that break up the waves and fall headfirst down an approximately 15-foot drop. Sims did not hesitate to spring into action.

“I ran over there, and it looked like she was in pretty bad pain. I could see blood coming out of her head, so I jumped down there, took off my shirt, and started applying pressure,” recalled Sims. “I directed her family to call the paramedics and told another local to go get some ice.”

Sims counted on the skills he learned in the Marine Corps to triage the woman’s injury and take control of the situation. He checked for the signs of a traumatic head injury that he had been trained to recognize, directed other individuals to assist, and relayed vital information about the woman’s status to the paramedics when they finally arrived on the scene.

“I guess because we’re trained in basic first aid, I thought that I could help. I didn’t really see anybody else who could have done it because she was just there with her family, so I immediately jumped down there and started helping her,” Sims continued.

Once the 46-year-old woman was safe with the paramedics, the family members that had accompanied her also paused to express their gratitude to the two Marines who had assisted her.

“Her family was very thankful. Once [the paramedics] took her, they were asking how they could repay us,” said Sims. “We were like, don’t worry about it. We are just here to help people.”

Marines like Pvt. Sims are the embodiment of the values, initiative, and bias for action that are instilled in every Marine from day one, proving that Marines are not only the first to fight when the nation calls, but the first to help in times of need.