‘He could have killed me’: Ohio State nurse speaks on workplace assault

COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio State nurse who was reportedly attacked on the job final fall is talking publicly for the primary time, saying she doesn’t imagine circumstances have improved — even because the hospital factors to progress on workplace safety.

“I thought his plan was to kill me. He was that elevated. He was that escalated. He was that angry,” mentioned Sam McLeod, who has labored as a postpartum nurse at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center since 2017. “Scared for my life does not even begin to explain the things that had gone through my head.”

The incident occurred on Nov. 6, 2025, when McLeod says she was ending her shift within the postpartum unit. She walked into what she described as “a full-blown fist fight” between the mom and father of a new child child. She says the daddy was holding his toddler and their new child.

“He was holding this baby around the chest, not supporting the head, the neck, anything like that. And the baby was being jostled around like a sack of potatoes,” McLeod mentioned.

She mentioned she tried to de-escalate the state of affairs. Instead, she mentioned, the person turned on her — grabbing her on the throat.

“He had placed his hand, grabbed everything and kind of twisted it, and placed his knuckles in my neck, and then started dragging me down the hallway,” she mentioned. “The only thing that kept popping through my head was my daughter at home, and am I going to make it home from this shift?”

McLeod mentioned she was dragged about 20 yards, citing an incident report, and strangled along with her personal lanyard.

“And at that point, I was begging him to let me go,” she mentioned. “He said, ‘Nah, man, you’re coming with me.”

“Scared for my life does not even begin to explain the things that had gone through my head,” she added.

McLeod mentioned assist didn’t come instantly.

“I mean, he could have killed me multiple times in that 10-minute time span, and there was no help,” she mentioned.

A spokesperson with Wexner Medical Center mentioned the safety response was three minutes.

McLeod mentioned she was ultimately capable of break away from her fingers, however confronted a troublesome resolution within the moments when she was being dragged.

“The hardest part of that was I had to decide whether I risked that baby’s life to protect my own,” she mentioned. “And I couldn’t do anything to jeopardize the life of that baby.”

Months later, McLeod mentioned she remains to be recovering and has not returned to work.

“My life is forever altered,” she mentioned. “I am so afraid of people because it was such a random act of violence.”

McLeod mentioned she is receiving about 60% of her pay by means of employees’ compensation and is struggling to get the hospital to cowl remedy for post-traumatic stress dysfunction.

“I feel like I’m being penalized for doing something good and protecting this child,” she mentioned. “Taking care of people and little babies and tiny humans and new moms is such a passion for me, and that has been stolen right now.”

The hospital’s spokesperson mentioned the nurse was provided help by means of Ohio State’s Employee Assistance Program and the Stress Trauma and Resilience program.

“We adhere to all procedures and requirements established by the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation when reviewing claims and treatment requests,” the spokesperson mentioned.

McLeod mentioned she determined to talk out now as a result of she believes workplace violence is extra frequent than folks notice — and since she desires to assist others.

“The rally they had last fallen for me could have very easily been a vigil,” she mentioned. “This is happening every day, not just at OSU. I want to make sure other nurses and staff are protected.”

Her feedback come because the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center on Thursday launched the Workplace Safety Update for July to December 2025, a biannual report highlighting enhancements.

Hospital leaders say the speed of scientific help calls and incidents has declined by 25% since 2021, even because the system has grown. The report additionally factors to expanded de-escalation coaching, elevated use of specialised response groups and extra safety screening.

But the report’s personal information reveals among the most critical conditions — together with assaultive incidents and circumstances requiring workers to restrain aggressive sufferers — have elevated in recent times.

“There are times where it doesn’t matter how much de-escalation training we are given,” McLeod mentioned, trying over the report. “There’s going to be cases like mine where it doesn’t matter.”

She mentioned the main focus on coaching shifts accountability onto workers.

“The whole de-escalation thing is just a cop out for them,” she mentioned. “They want to put it back on us.”

Hospital leaders say the progress displays broader engagement throughout workers.

“These results show what is possible when we all share the responsibility of workplace safety and use the tools available,” mentioned Elizabeth Seely, chief administrative officer of the hospital division and co-chair of the Workplace Safety Steering Committee, in a press release posted on-line. “The progress we’ve made to date is thanks to our team members’ commitment across the medical center, and we’ll continue to seek your feedback to help drive ongoing improvements.”

McLeod mentioned extra concrete adjustments are wanted, together with necessary response occasions from safety and nearer coordination with college police.

“I am vehemently assured that they are not doing everything that they could to protect us,” she mentioned.

Thirty-one-year-old Asiakare Minor of Reynoldsburg, who was charged with strangulation and illegal restraint in reference to the assault, has pleaded not responsible. His subsequent courtroom look is scheduled for April 27.

McLeod mentioned she hopes talking out now will result in change and that she will be able to return to doing what she loves quickly, alongside coworkers she cherishes, who she says deserves higher.

“I am fighting for them, and I want them to be protected like I wasn’t,” she mentioned.