“I was Alex Pretti’s final nursing student. He was my friend and my nursing mentor. For the past four months, I stood shoulder to shoulder with him during my capstone preceptorship at the Minneapolis VA Hospital. There he trained me to care for the sickest of the sick as an ICU nurse.”
Jessica Hauser shared these heartfelt words in tribute to Alex Pretti, the dedicated ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA Hospital who mentored her in her final clinical training. Under his guidance, she learned essential skills to care for critically ill patients, managing arterial and central lines, handling complex IV infusions of lifesaving medications, and vigilantly monitoring every vital sign, ready to respond with precision and care. These were techniques rooted in healing and compassion, passed on with Alex’s characteristic patience and steady calm.
Jessica described Alex as carrying “patience, compassion and calm as a steady light within him,” a light that remained evident even in his final moments. She reflected that it came as no surprise his last words were, “Are you okay?”, a question that revealed caring for others was at the very core of who he was. “He was incapable of causing harm. He lived a life of healing, and he lived it well.”
To honor him, she encouraged simple, meaningful acts: standing for peace “preferably with a cup of black coffee in hand and a couple of pieces of candy in your pocket,” stepping outside with a dog, hiking or biking to find quiet in nature, and engaging respectfully with differing views while extending love. “Take one step, no matter how small, to help heal our world. Through these acts, carry his light forward in his name. Let his legacy continue to heal.”
In His Students’ Eyes: The Legacy of Alex Pretti — A Nurse Who Healed Until the End
Minneapolis — In the wake of the tragic killing of ICU nurse Alex Pretti, tributes from family, friends, colleagues, and the larger nursing community have poured in from across the country. But few messages have resonated as deeply as the heartfelt tribute shared by Jessica Hauser — the last nursing student he ever mentored. Through her words, we glimpse the soul of the man behind the headlines and the profound impact he had on those he taught.
“I was Alex Pretti’s final nursing student,” Jessica wrote. “He was my friend and my nursing mentor.” For four months, she stood shoulder to shoulder with him during her capstone preceptorship at the Minneapolis VA Hospital, learning firsthand what it means to care for the most critically ill patients.
More Than a Teacher — A Guide in Healing
Under Alex’s guidance, Jessica says she learned the most demanding and delicate aspects of ICU care — managing arterial and central lines, handling complex IV infusions of lifesaving medications, and monitoring every heartbeat and breath of patients whose conditions could change in an instant. These were not just “skills,” she explained, but tools rooted in healing and compassion — approaches he practiced with patience, calm, and unwavering dedication.
“Alex carried patience, compassion, and calm as a steady light within him,” she wrote. That light didn’t fade even in his final recorded moments. Jessica said she recognized his familiar stillness and characteristic composure — attributes that she saw again in the video footage taken just before he was killed.
In her tribute, she recalled his last words: “Are you okay?” — an instinctive, compassionate question that she said revealed the true essence of who he was. “Caring for people was at the core of who he was. He was incapable of causing harm. He lived a life of healing, and he lived it well.”
A Human Being, Not Just a Headline
Jessica’s tribute offers a stark, poignant contrast to the conflicting narratives that have surrounded Pretti’s death. Federal authorities initially characterized the incident in Minneapolis during a high-tension immigration enforcement operation as a matter involving a threat posed by Pretti, while video footage and multiple eyewitness accounts have raised serious questions about that version of events. In several widely circulated videos, Pretti appears to have been holding a phone, not a weapon, and was seen trying to help others when he was pepper-sprayed, forced to the ground, and fatally shot.
In response, his family issued a public statement calling out what they described as “sickening lies” from the administration, emphasizing their son’s warm and caring personality, and urging the truth about who he was to be shared widely.
But for Jessica, and for the many nurses and veterans who knew Alex personally, what matters most is not the politics or the controversy — but the man whose life was devoted to caring for others.
Carrying His Light Forward
Jessica didn’t just describe what Alex taught her clinically — she spoke about the values he embodied. She encouraged others who mourn his passing to honor his memory through simple acts of kindness, peace, and connection. Whether it’s standing for a moment of peace with a cup of black coffee in hand, taking a stroll with a dog, hiking or biking in nature, or engaging respectfully with those who hold different views, she urged every step to be taken with love and intention.
“Take one step, no matter how small, to help heal our world,” she wrote. Through these acts, she said, we carry his light forward — keeping his legacy alive not in headlines, but in healing.
Her tribute reflects a truth that many who knew Pretti affirm: he was more than his profession. He was a mentor, a steady presence in chaotic moments, and someone who taught not just how to heal the body, but how to care for a human being. And that, perhaps more than anything, is the legacy she hopes endures.
A Legacy of Compassion
In this moment of national debate and public protest — with hundreds marching for accountability and justice, and countless voices weighing in on what happened that day in Minneapolis — Jessica’s words remind us that at the center of it all was a human life. A life that was defined not by how it ended, but by how it was lived: with patience, compassion, and an unwavering commitment to others.
For those who worked with Alex, cared for him as a friend, or learned from him as a student, his light continues to guide their work every day. In hospital ICUs, in community spaces, in quiet acts of kindness, and in every nurse who has found strength in his example, his presence lives on.
