In what will no doubt be the most ironic piece of news you will hear today, the patient whose blood a nurse refused to let a police officer draw without consent was, in fact, an officer himself.
Footage of the incident, in which University Hospital nurse Alex Wubbels was placed under arrest by Officer Jeff Payne for refusing to draw the blood of an unconscious patient who had been in a car accident, went viral last week.
But since the footage went viral, it has emerged that the patient whose blood Officer Payne was intent on drawing was also a member of law enforcement, Officer William Gray of Rigby Police Department.
Posting on its Facebook page, Rigby Police Department issued an open thank you to nurse Wubbels for protecting their officer.
“The Rigby Police Department would like to thank the nurse involved and hospital staff for standing firm, and protecting Officer Gray’s rights as a patient and victim. Protecting the rights of others is truly a heroic act,” the department’s post said.
The department also explained how Gray came to be in the hospital, stating: “On July 26th of this year, one of our reserve officers, William Gray was the victim in a horrific accident in northern Utah while working his full-time job as a truck driver.”