A life-threatening incident at Charlotte Douglas International Airport saw a 57-year-old man, Ken Jeffries, miraculously survive a heart attack thanks to the quick response of Claire Cerbie, a registered nurse from a heart and vascular hospital center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Both were waiting for their flight to Knoxville when Cerbie noticed Jeffries’ abnormal breathing and snoring patterns.

Quickly realizing something was wrong, Cerbie assembled a makeshift team of airport bystanders to help administer CPR to Jeffries. Simultaneously, another person fetched a defibrillator. “We put the pads on him,” Cerbie told WBTV News. “It indicated a shockable rhythm, and it shocked him in between while we were doing compressions.”

Once Jeffries regained his pulse, he was speedily transported to the Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center. Here, Dr. William Downey, a cardiologist at the Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute where Cerbie is employed, performed life-saving surgery on him. Both Cerbie and Dr. Downey agree that without the immediate CPR and shocks administered at the airport, Jeffries would not have survived.

An emotional Jeffries expressed his gratitude during a TV interview with Cerbie by his side: “It’s a miracle that I was at that place at that time when it happened and the people around me are there,” he said. “A ‘thank you’ is not enough, Claire. Thank you for what you did I am so appreciative and indebted to you.”

Cerbie responded by saying: “I’m very glad that I was there that day to help you out. I’d obviously do it again in a heartbeat. I’m so happy to see that you’re doing so well.”

As a token of appreciation for her heroic act, American Airlines upgraded Cerbie to first class on her flight. Jeffries admitted that he hadn’t noticed any symptoms before his heart attack, which is not uncommon. Symptoms of heart disease can often be vague and few – such as shortness of breath or soreness in the neck and jaw – things one would easily attribute to a poor night of sleep.

Share this inspiring story of a nurse saving lives during her off hours. Go Nurses!

Source: Good News Network