Good Samaritan Award

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Good Samaritan Award Recipient C.B. sent us the following email.

Hi,

Nearly four years ago, you did a CPR class for my running group. It was fun and engaging and I walked out of there feeling confident that if the time ever came I could do CPR on someone. And then I never really thought about it again. On Saturday, after a swimming event in Clearwater, a man collapsed on the street. A group of around five or six of us happened to be near him at that moment. Someone called 911.

Someone else rolled the man over. He wasn’t breathing and his face was purple. Someone asked if anyone knew CPR. I heard myself say, I do. Then without even thinking about it, I did chest compressions on the man as hard and fast as I could. He was a big guy and it felt chaotic and messy and harder than the dummy in class but I remembered you saying, “hard and fast, hard and fast” so I just kept going. A guy stepped up and said he didn’t know what to do but asked if he could help, so I told him how to take over from me as I was starting to get tired. The rest of it is kind of a blur but fortunately the paramedics showed up within a few minutes. He got to the hospital quickly and he survived although he had a 100% blockage in his LAD artery (and I think we might have broken a rib). A mutual acquaintance texted me a video on Sunday of him sitting up in bed thanking me and the guy who helped and saying that, according to the doctors, he is going to be fine.

While you probably don’t remember the class, it turns out that I did what I needed to when it counted.

So thank you and I hope you continue your good work.

The following email was submitted by their boss for saving the life of another employee.

On Tuesday, July 09, 2019, a co-worker was found unresponsive and slumped over in her office chair. The initial person that found her moved her to the floor and immediately started CPR. Three other employees quickly arrived at the scene and assisted with administering CPR. One of the employees retrieved the AED within the first few minutes. The AED did perform a shock during the CPR treatment. Sherriff deputies arrived at the scene after approximately 10 minutes of discovering the co-worker, and EMS arrived shortly thereafter. She was transported to the hospital in stable condition. She has since made a full recovery. All four of the co-workers that assisted in the rescue attended your CPR/AED and First Aid training held at the plant in April 2019.

David Stinson,

A woman vacationing at the Sheraton Sand Key in Clearwater saw a child face down in the pool and pulled him out. Hotel Manager Vince Tropea said that when he arrived on the scene the 2 year old boy was unresponsive and blue. A New Jersey police officer, Sergeant Sean O’Hare, on vacation at the Sheraton Sand Key started CPR then, Vince Tropea took over. Tropea said after performing CPR for about 3 minutes, he heard a gasp. The paramedics arrived on the scene and took the child to Morton Plant Hospital. According to the childs mother, he was released from the hospital and is back to his normal self.

We received the following email from T.L.

H.I.,

THIS IS T.L. THE ONE WHO SAVED THE LITTLE BOYS LIFE AT THE RIVER. THAT LITTLE BOY IS DOING WONDERFUL RIGHT NOW.

MY FAMILY AND I WERE AT ROGERS PARK ON MAY 19, 2010, IN HERNANDO COUNTY. MY HUSBAND SAW SOMETHING IN THE RIVER FLOATING WHEN HE TOLD ME ABOUT IT.

I JUST SHOOK IT OFF AND SAID YA, OK. I CONTINUED TO PLAY WITH MY GRANDSON IN THE WATER. MY HUSBAND SAID HONEY, I DON”T KNOW WHAT IT IS , BUT ITS GETTING CLOSER. AGAIN, I SAID YA, OK. I SAID IT WAS PROBABLY SOMEONE USING A SNORKEL LOOKING AT THE BOTTOM OF THE RIVER (EVERY ONE DOES THIS). MY HUSBAND SAID BABY, I THINK IT’S A BODY FLOATING. I SAID WELL, IF YOU THINK IT IS, JUMP IN AND SEE. HE DID, AND AS HE PULLED THE BODY OUT OF THE WATER, HE STARTED SCREAMING IT’S A CHILD! SOMEONE CALL 911! HE BROUGHT THE LITTLE BOY TO SHORE, AND I WAS THE 1ST ONE THERE. I STARTED CPR ON HIM. IT FELT LIKE FOREVER UNTIL THE LITTLE BOYS PARENTS CAME.

THE FATHER CAME RUNNING OVER AND THE FATHER KEPT TRYING TO KNOCK MY ARMS OUT OF THE WAY TELLING ME I WAS DOING IT TOO HARD. I DIDN’T PAY ATTENTION TO HIM AND KEPT DOING CPR. ALL I KEPT THINKING OF WAS THE SONG THAT I LEARNED IN CPR CLASS STAYING ALIVE, STAYING ALIVE. I CONTINUED AND THANK GOD, THE LITTLE BOY STARTED BREATHING. ABOUT 4 OR 5 MINUTES FELT LIKE A LIFE TIME! THE BOY WAS STILL UNCONSCIOUS. I DIDN’T KNOW HOW OR WHAT TO DO AT THAT POINT. SO, I LOOKED UP TO GOD AND I SAID I DID WHAT I COULD NOW, PLEASE HELP ME, I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO! THEN, ALL OF A SUDDEN THE LITTLE BOY STARTED SCREAMING. IT WAS THE BEST SOUND I EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE. THE PARAMEDICS SHOWED UP AND TOOK HIM TO THE HOSPITAL. FROM THERE, HE WAS SENT TO ALL CHILDREN’S. HE LEFT THE HOSPITAL WITH NO BRAIN DAMAGE AND NO WATER IN HIS LUNGS. THANK GOD FOR THAT!

THE LITTLE BOY IS 3 YEARS OLD. HIS PARENTS ASKED MY HUSBAND AND I TO BE HIS GODPARENTS AND WE GLADLY ACCEPTED. WE WENT TO THEIR HOUSE FOR DINNER AND HE WAS UP PLAYING AND HAVING A GOOD TIME. YOU WOULD NOT KNOW ANYTHING HAPPENED TO HIM AT ALL. THIS REALLY IS A MIRACLE. THE LITTLE BOY WAS IN THE WATER FOR A WHILE AND I FEEL SO BAD. I HAVE BEEN TO THIS RIVER SEVERAL TIMES SINCE I WAS A CHILD AND NOW, BRING MY GRANDKID’S THERE. I NEVER SAW ANYTHING LIKE THAT. WHEN MY HUSBAND SAID HE THOUGHT IT WAS A BODY, I JUST SHOOK IT OFF. IF I WOULD HAVE KNOWN OF COURSE, WE WOULD HAVE GOTTEN TO HIM FASTER.

I HAVE BEEN DOING CNA WORK FOR 20 YEARS NOW AND HAVE BEEN THRU SEVERAL CPR CLASSES. I NEVER, THANK GOD, HAD TO USE CPR. WORKING WITH THE ELDERLY EVERY DAY, I IMAGINED THAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN ON A SENIOR, NOT A CHILD.

CPR REALLY DOES WORK! OUT OF ALL THE CLASSES I’VE BEEN TO, NELSON’S CPR IS THE BEST! DON’T EVER STOP USING THAT SONG. THAT IS THE ONLY THING I COULD THINK OF AND IT REALLY DID HELP. THANK YOU NELSON’S CPR FOR DOING WHAT YOU DO BEST, TEACHING PEOPLE TO SAVE LIVES! THIS WAS THE BEST CPR CLASS I EVER ATTENDED. I LEARNED MORE IN YOUR CLASS THEN IN ANY OTHER CLASS THAT I’VE BEEN TO.

DON’T CHANGE A THING, YOUR CLASS AND YOU ARE THE BEST!!!!!!!!

THANKS SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING.

T.L.