What motivated the nurse to act despite the taboo?

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She acted because the crash was a medical emergency and the victims needed immediate treatment.

Wiwat Laonoi stepped in within minutes of the collision because no other responders had arrived and she was the first person able to help. She treated the scene as an emergency, saying that when people warned her, “Wait, that’s a monk!”, her response was that it did not matter because “right now, this is a patient.”
She was the first responder at a “massive” accident scene.

Wiwat said she had “never seen anything like it” and that she had to stay clear-headed. She was 61 and had been a nurse for nearly four decades, which put her in the position to act immediately while the situation was still unfolding.
She focused on the victims’ condition rather than their status as monks.

Her response to the warning about Buddhist custom was direct: the people on the road were patients who needed care. That is why she checked pulses, performed CPR, and moved from one victim to the next at speed.
She coordinated care while the hospital response was still arriving.

Wiwat worked with the local hospital as she treated the injured, even before other responders reached the scene. The crash killed 10 monks in total, and as of Friday, 10 other people were still hospitalised, including two in critical condition.
She said she felt pride in using her nursing skills to help others.

Wiwat said she was proud, as a Thai and as a nurse, to use what she knew to help her fellow human beings. She also said she hopes to keep volunteering in communities with limited medical care after her retirement in September.

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What motivated the nurse to act despite the taboo?

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