Tampa woman saves man's life, then finishes triathlon

[jnelsoninjax]

ST. PETERSBURG ? A Tampa woman saved the life of a man who had a heart attack during a triathlon Saturday morning, race officials said.

Teresa McCoy, 37, was just about to finish the bike portion of the Meek and Mighty Triathlon, part of the annual St. Anthony's Triathlon events, when she saw two police officers huddled over a fellow rider along Bayshore Drive.

McCoy recognized the middle-aged man as runner No. 100. The two had chatted briefly before the start of the race. McCoy, a nurse at Tampa General Hospital's cardiac lab, was No. 96.

With other riders speeding by, McCoy steered her bike to where the man was down.

The officers thought the man might be having a seizure, but McCoy checked for a pulse.

"I didn't feel one at all," she said. "He wasn't looking good."

McCoy began CPR, then yelled for someone to find a defibrillator. One of the officers had one in his trunk.

"As soon as we shocked him, he came to," McCoy said.

As paramedics arrived and loaded the man into an ambulance, McCoy got back on her bike and finished the race.

She learned later that the man survived. Officials declined to release the man's name at his family's request, but said he is expected to recover.

"I'm so glad he's alive," McCoy said Saturday night. "I know that God put me where I was supposed to be today. It's like I was his angel today."

Source

[Growled Member]

That is just epic. :)

[TheLegendOfMart]

I dont understand, i thought Defibrillators only worked if the heart was beating not if someone flatlines, if she couldnt feel a pulse then why would a defib bring him back?

[Unix2]

Now that woman own the life of that old man. :whistle:

[firey]

I dont understand, i thought Defibrillators only worked if the heart was beating not if someone flatlines, if she couldnt feel a pulse then why would a defib bring him back?

I'm pretty sure it's to try and get the heart to beat again. If they shock it and get the muscle to start working. It's also possible it was beating just low low pulse, not enough that she could feel it.

[Stealthy_Singh]

I dont understand, i thought Defibrillators only worked if the heart was beating not if someone flatlines, if she couldnt feel a pulse then why would a defib bring him back?

While you are right, just because she couldn't feel a pulse that doesn't mean the heart didn't have a rhythm. Modern difibs will check to see if there is a shockable rhythm and will only deliver a shock if this is the case. Otherwise it will tell you to keep performing CPR.

Good on her!