A Florida man said it was a “miracle” that a watchful nurse was nearby when he began having a heart attack at a North Carolina airport. Doctors said he probably would have died if she hadn’t acted quickly.
Claire Selby was waiting to board a flight to Knoxville, Tennessee at Charlotte Douglas International Airport on June 7 when she noticed Ken Jeffries, 57, sitting at the same gate, looking ill, WBTV reported.
No one knew Jeffries was having a heart attack except Selby, a registered nurse.
“From what I saw previously, the way you were snoring and breathing sounded like you were having a heart attack,” Selby told Jeffries during a Zoom reunion call set up by the outlet on Monday.
Without hesitation, Selby ran over to help his companion and instructed others to help as well.
She instructed another good Samaritan to get a defibrillator and then began administering CPR to Jeffries.
“We put pads on him,” the nurse told the outlet.
“It indicated a shockable rhythm and we shocked him while we were doing compressions.”
Selby, who previously worked at the Sanger Cardiovascular Institute at Atrium Health in Charlotte, worked tirelessly with other doctors to keep the 57-year-old man alive until emergency responders arrived.
Fortunately, after about 10 minutes of life-saving treatment, Jeffries’ pulse was restored.
“He had his own rhythm. He was breathing on his own and we stayed with him until the paramedics arrived,” she said.
Jeffries was then rushed to Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center where he underwent emergency surgery.
According to the outlet, Dr. William Downey, a cardiologist at the Sanger Heart and Vascular Institute who performed the surgery, said that if Selby had not acted quickly to perform chest compressions and use a defibrillator, Jeffries would have died.
A Jacksonville, Florida man was overwhelmed with emotion after being reunited with his savior for the first time since a medical emergency.
“It was a miracle I was there at that time and those around me were there,” he told Selby heartily.
“‘Thank you’ is not enough, Claire. I appreciate what you’ve done. I truly appreciate it and feel indebted to you.”
The humble nurse replied that she was happy to help and that her years of experience had enabled her to keep him alive.
“I’m so glad I was there to help you that day, and of course I’ll do it again in a heartbeat,” she said.
“I’m so glad to see you’re doing so well.”
WBTV reported that American Airlines upgraded Selby to first class on his flight to Knoxville as a thank you for saving his fellow passenger’s life.
Jeffries told the media that there were no signs or symptoms of a heart attack before the cardiac arrest.
A heart attack, or myocardial infarction, is a serious medical emergency that occurs when blood flow to the heart muscle is suddenly blocked, causing the heart to not receive enough oxygen.
It is said that someone suffers a heart attack every 40 seconds in the United States. CDC.
Approximately 805,000 people suffer a heart attack each year in the United States.
“About one in five heart attacks have no symptoms — damage is occurring but people don’t know it,” the CDC says.
Eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, getting seven to nine hours of sleep a night, quitting smoking and managing stress can significantly lower your risk of heart attack, according to the American Heart Association. American Heart Association.
