Wearing a bright red cape with the Wonder Woman emblem on the back, Yvette Hunter walks the halls of The Loretto Hospital in Chicago's Austin neighborhood with an extra-special superpower.
Hunter earned the "Wonder Woman" nickname from a fellow public safety officer.
"The fact that I am a woman and that I am not afraid of anything," Hunter said are the main reasons the name stuck. "Wonder Woman had power and that's what represents me – power, the power to help others," Hunter said.
That power goes beyond patrolling the hospital hallways and keeping the peace at work, according to Brigitte Broadway, a crisis worker at the hospital.
"The biggest part is Yvette can recognize domestic violence," Broadway said.
Hunter knows the signs because she has survived not one, but two abusive relationships.
"I’ve been there, been a victim of domestic violence -- been hit, beaten, head busted, going to the hospital to get services," Hunter said.
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Like so many others, The Loretto Hospital has treated more domestic abuse patients during the pandemic.
“The issue is no one is vocal about it," Broadway said. "The Austin community is a close-knit community, but they are a close-lipped community as well, because of the fear that they have."
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Hunter helps the crisis team, because she can often recognize the signs of abuse almost immediately after a patient walks in the hospital doors.
"This one time, I was interviewing the victim and they just had this look in their eyes and Yvette walked by and she pulled me aside and she said, 'Brigitte, that’s a victim of domestic violence' and, sure enough, it was,” Broadway said.
"I know that look cause I used to have that look," Hunter said.
She now works with the crisis team at the hospital, sharing her story with patients to encourage them to seek help.
"No one would ever know what I been through, all those trials and tribulations, unless I tell them, 'That’s why I’m in here to talk to you, to let you know the situation you’re in, you can get out of,'” Hunter said.
