This Walmart associate never hesitates to help others.
Tammy Cagle has always cared for others. Before she started working at Sam’s Club 20 years ago, she was a certified nursing assistant.
Today, as a claims supervisor at Walmart Store 2967 in Fort Wright, Kentucky, she loves the family-oriented atmosphere. She appreciates how the teams at Walmart and Sam’s Club have been there for her through difficult times in her life, including when she lost her son to a car accident when he was 17. “They really took good care of me,” Tammy says.
She also has a daughter, age 30, and was a foster parent to a girl who is now 14 and still in her life.
“I'm passionate about people and passionate about my job,” Tammy explains. “So anytime we call code white, I'm like, ‘What do you need?’.... I’m always there to help, no matter what.”
In the Moment
So, it’s not surprising that Tammy responded quickly when a code white came over the radio at her store. Tammy raced to help.
That morning in February 2021, she found a customer lying on the floor, gasping. Someone had already called 911. But while they waited for the ambulance, Tammy realized the customer had stopped breathing. She could not find a pulse.
Tammy immediately started CPR. She learned the life-saving technique when she was a nurse, but she says Sam’s Club also made sure managers had CPR training. She’d never had to use it before, but she knew what to do.
“You don't think about it,” she says. “You just react.”
“The ambulance got here,” Tammy says. “As soon as I saw them, I jumped back and they were like, ‘No, no, don't stop, keep going. You're doing a great job.’ And I just kept going. And then finally a police officer, I guess he noticed I was tired. He said, ‘Do you need a break?’ And I said, ‘Yes, please.’ So then he took over while they were getting their equipment together.”
Tammy Cagle Day
Thanks to her heroic efforts, she was honored by the Fort Wright City Council, which named March 4 Tammy Cagle Day. Better still, the customer survived!
The support of her co-workers and the love she feels for her work and the customers mean Tammy plans to stay at Walmart until she’s ready to retire. “It's a great company to work for,” she says. “It's family.”
