In 2008 Hernandez volunteered for Hillary Clinton 's presidential campaign and for Gabrielle Giffords ' re-election campaign . He graduated from Sunnyside High School in 2008 and started at the University of Arizona in the fall . In 2011 , while a student at the University of Arizona , Hernandez started an internship with the office of Gabby Giffords . During the first week of his internship , Hernandez was helping out at a " Congress on your Corner " event , which ended in an attempted assassination of Congresswoman Giffords . After Giffords was shot in the head , Hernandez immediately thought that the head injury might cause her to choke on her own blood , so he held her up and stanched the bleeding with his hand until employees from inside the nearby grocery store brought him clean smocks . In doing so , he is credited with saving the Congresswoman 's life . Later that year , he was elected to the board of the Sunnyside Unified School District
attempted assassination of Congresswoman Giffords
2011 Tucson shooting
Daniel Hernández Jr.