Menchu de Luna Sanchez At State Of The Union; One Of Hurricane Sandy’s Many Heroes

Hurricane Sandy devastated the East Coast of the United States and thousands lost their homes and were without power for weeks. In the wake of the storm, Menchu de Luna Sanchez was a heroine, helping to rescue 20 infants from New York University's Langone Medical Center after the hospital lost power.

She is attending the 2013 State of the Union.

Heroism was evident in many ways large and small, and Menchu de Luna Sanchez was one such person who went above and beyond during the storm. Sanchez is a registered nurse at NYU Langone Medical Center in Manhattan, and when the storm knocked out power Oct. 29, it left 20 at-risk infants in danger of losing their lives. Facing heavy winds and torrential rain, Sanchez devised a plan that would relocate the infants to other intensive care units.

Sanchez helped direct the efforts of the hospital’s staff to carry the infants down eight flights of stairs, using only the light of cell phones to guide them down safely. According to her White House bio, Sanchez’ own home was flooding due to Sandy but she sacrificed what she owned to rescue the 20 infants.

Sanchez emigrated from the Philippines and has lived in the United States for over 25 years. Sanchez is a resident of New Jersey and her two children are currently in college.

Sandy cost New York, New Jersey and other states billions of dollars in damages and President Barack Obama, along with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., have been instrumental in getting a Sandy relief bill through congress. That legislation, as previously reported by IBTimes, was approved by the Senate in January and the $50.8 billion relief bill will aid efforts in New York and New Jersey to repair infrastructure and mass transit damaged by the storm.