In 2011 , the Person of the Year was Daniel Hernández Jr . Earlier in 2011 , while a student at the University of Arizona , Hernandez started an internship with the office of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords . During the first week he was helping out at a " Congress on your Corner " event , which ended in an attempted assassination of her . 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 a nearby grocery store brought him clean smocks . In doing so , he is credited with saving the her life . Later that year , he was elected to the board of the Sunnyside Unified School District . He was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in the 2016 elections
attempted assassination of her
2011 Tucson shooting
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