A newly minted nurse anesthesia graduate put her training into action just hours after receiving her degree, helping save a restaurant employee who collapsed during her graduation celebration in Center City.
Tuesday, May 12, 2026 8:40PMA newly minted nurse anesthesia graduate put her training into action just hours after receiving her degree, helping save a restaurant employee who collapsed during her graduation celebration in Center City.
Amanda Howard was celebrating at Osteria Ama when a waitress rushed upstairs asking for medical help.
"And the waitress comes upstairs, and she's like, ' Is anyone here a doctor? We thought she was kidding," Howard said.
"Like, oh, because you all have been saying it, but the look in her face was so fearful. " When Howard reached the kitchen, she found the line chef on the ground, turning blue and without a pulse. She and a friend, who is also a nurse, immediately began CPR. Howard had graduated earlier that day from Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, with a doctorate in nurse anesthesia.
The restaurant's owner told Action News that "her immediate response and CPR were truly life-saving, and we believe she played a crucial role in saving his life.
""Yeah, it was quite the experience," she said. "Something we do every day, but it's very different to do it on the day that you're celebrating yourself. So it was just very rewarding to be able to use my training in a way that could give someone more time with their family.
" After EMS transported the employee, Howard returned to her celebration - still partly covered in pasta sauce from performing CPR. The restaurant reports that the chef is still hospitalized but is stable.
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