Good Samaritan Rescues Collapsed Jogger, Baby
Published: May 16, 2007
It was an emotional reunion inside Barnes Jewish Hospital Tuesday. It was the chance for a good samaritan to see the woman he saved. It’s actually a second meeting for Melissa O’Connor and Don Cooper. That, in itself, is amazing considering what happened the first time they met.
Don says, “How great she’s doing now is, to me, a miracle.”
Melissa O’Connor is recovering. Until last week, the 28-year old appeared to be healthy and jogged every day. But her most recent run might have been fatal, if someone hadn’t stopped to help.
It happened early Friday in Edwardsville. Melissa went for a jog on a bike trail, pushing her six-month old in his stroller. But something was wrong. An irregular heartbeat threw Melissa into cardiac arrest. She collapsed on the path, tipping the stroller on its side. That’s when Don drove by.
He says, “As I got halfway down the trail, I could hear a baby crying.”
He ran to them, righted the stroller and checked the infant, who was fine. Then Don turned to Melissa. He says, “When I got to her I realized she was unconscious. I checked her, she had no pulse, was not breathing.” He began CPR and called for help. Police and paramedics were able to restart her heart. But Melissa wasn’t out of the woods yet. Her husband, Dennis O’Connor, says, “She was unconscious for two days. I’d say the most painful two days of my life. Then on Mother’s Day… Mother’s Day she woke up.”
And so Tuesday, Don came to see the family he saved. It’s a family intact, thanks to his actions. Dennis says, “He saved my wife, he saved me, and he saved my sons. I owe him the world. I cannot say in words how much to thank him.”
Doctors still don’t know what caused Melissa’s heart problem or whether it will reoccur. But they say she appears to be making a steady recovery now.
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