A woman at a North Carolina airport saved a man’s life after her quick thinking and medical knowledge led her to believe he was having a heart attack.
Claire Cerbie, a registered nurse, was waiting at the gate for her flight at Charlotte Douglas International Airport on the morning of June 7 when she noticed that Ken Jeffries was having a difficult time.
Jeffries, 57, was on the same flight to Knoxville, Tennessee, as Cerbie, and she said he was showing two classic signs of a possible heart attack: Cable TV reported.
“Just the way you were snoring and breathing it sounded like you were having a heart attack from what I’d seen before,” Cerbie told Jeffries in a Zoom meeting.
More than half of patients who suffer cardiac arrest gasp, snore or have difficulty breathing, according to the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center.
Ken Jeffries, pictured, suffered a heart attack at Charlotte Douglas International Airport on the morning of June 7 while waiting for a flight to Knoxville, Tennessee.
Claire Cerbie, a registered nurse, was waiting at the same door as Jeffries. She immediately recognized his snoring and labored breathing as symptoms of an impending heart attack. She jumped in to save him.
“Bystanders often misinterpret gasps and other unusual vocal sounds as breathing and do not call 9-1-1 or begin life-saving chest compressions quickly enough,” the center explained.
This was no problem for Cerbie, who knew exactly what he was dealing with the moment he saw Jeffries snoring.
She immediately sprang into action and recruited nearby flyers to assist her.
Cerbie and a group of good Samaritans performed chest compressions while another person went to get a defibrillator.
“We put the pads on him,” he said. “They indicated a shockable rhythm and we shocked him between compressions.”
Jeffries was given CPR for 10 minutes before he miraculously regained a pulse.
“He had his own rhythm. He was breathing on his own and we stayed by his side until the paramedics arrived,” the nurse said.
Jeffries, left, thanks Cerbie on a video call hosted by WBTV. The two are emotional about the weight of what happened.
Cerbie used to work at Atrium Health’s Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute in Charlotte.
After the fact, Jeffries expressed his gratitude to Cerbie for saving him, and nearly broke down on the Zoom call with her trying to thank him for what he did.
“Excuse me, I’m sorry, guys,” he said as he composed himself.
“A ‘thank you’ isn’t enough, Claire. Thank you for what you did. I am so grateful and indebted to you.”
Cerbie, who used to work at Atrium Health’s Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute in Charlotte, seemed emotional hearing Jeffries’ passionate thanks.
“I’m so glad I was there that day to help you. Obviously, I would do it again without hesitation,” he said.
“I’m so glad to see you’re doing so well.”
Jeffries in his hospital bed after the heart attack he suffered at the airport. His doctor said Cerbie almost certainly avoided his death thanks to his quick action.
On the day of his heart attack, Jeffries was rushed to Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center, where cardiologist Dr. William Downey performed surgery.
Downey revealed that if Cerbie and his fellow passengers had not jumped in to perform CPR, Jeffries would have died.
Jeffries did not notice any symptoms commonly associated with heart attacks in the run-up to his medical emergency.
Downey said heart attacks can be prevented by quitting smoking, exercising regularly and controlling blood pressure and cholesterol.
As an added bonus for her act of heroism, Cerbie was upgraded to first class by American Airlines, WBTV reported.