Nurse Saves Driver in Cardiac Arrest on Way to Breakfast
A man driving to meet his grandson suddenly went into cardiac arrest and lost consciousness, but an ICU nurse happened to witness his truck rolling through yards and jumped into action. Her quick CPR in the pouring rain kept him alive until paramedics arrived.
Jim Ruff was minutes away from a breakfast date with his grandson when his heart simply stopped beating while behind the wheel.
On April 25, Ruff pulled over in the Glen Meadows neighborhood of Millcreek Township, Pennsylvania, to text his grandson he was on his way. He tried to turn, but his truck veered slightly right instead, and he lost consciousness with no warning pain.
His pickup began rolling through front yards just as Colleen Schnaekel arrived to pick up her mom for a bridal shower. Schnaekel, an ICU assistant nurse manager at AHN Saint Vincent Hospital, immediately recognized this wasn't someone taking a nap.
The truck was locked and still moving. Schnaekel called 911 and her father, a former firefighter who lived nearby, while rain poured down around them.
Her dad grabbed a tool and broke the truck window. A neighbor put the vehicle in park, unlocking the doors so they could pull Ruff onto the lawn.
Ruff had a pulse at first, then lost it. Schnaekel started CPR, listening desperately for the sirens she'd heard in the distance to get closer.
Paramedics arrived and revived Ruff using advanced cardiac life support. He woke up hours later in the emergency room and learned what happened.
"I felt like God set this up," Ruff said. "So many people would have just driven on by, and here she is dressed up to go to a shower with her mom, but yet she saw something was wrong, and she acted and literally saved my life."
Sunny's Take
For Schnaekel, stopping wasn't a decision that required deliberation. "I think it's just a nursing instinct," she said. "You see someone that needs help, you jump in. I really didn't think twice about it."
The two met after Ruff's recovery, and Schnaekel described it as a "really cool, surreal, emotional experience." Ruff walked out of the hospital on Monday feeling great, grateful for a nurse who was in exactly the right place at exactly the right moment.
Schnaekel's message is simple: immediate action gives someone their best chance at survival.
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Based on reporting by Google News - Nurse Saves
This story was written by BrightWire based on verified news reports.
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