OVIEDO, Fla. \u2013 A Port St. Lucie man is alive today thanks to the quick actions of an Oviedo police officer who used an AED and CPR to bring him back from a heart attack \u2014 and the two reunited Wednesday for the first time since that life-saving moment.<\/p>\n
Doug Black and his girlfriend, Kathy Joy Saunders, were in the parking lot of First United Methodist Church in Oviedo on April 26 when Black suffered a heart attack. He had arrived intending to attend the 9:30 a.m. service but wasn\u2019t feeling well. He told Saunders to go inside without him, but she refused to leave.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe stayed with me the entire time and helped me get through this,\u201d Black said.<\/p>\n
As Black\u2019s condition worsened, Saunders spotted Officer Chris St. John \u2014 who was working an extra-duty assignment at the church \u2014 and ran to his car. St. John immediately retrieved his department-issued AED, rushed to Black\u2019s vehicle and got to work.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hooked up the AED to Mr. Black and activated it,\u201d St. John said. \u201cThe AED gave me one shock, and then I performed CPR. After the one shock from the AED, I performed three sets of chest compressions \u2014 and then Mr. Black was revived.\u201d<\/p>\n
Black believes he was unconscious for five or six minutes. Body camera video captured the entire rescue. When Oviedo firefighters arrived on scene, Black walked from the car to the ambulance on his own \u2014 something St. John said he had never seen before. Black was then transported to a hospital in Sanford. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou just don\u2019t know if you have a blockage. Unfortunately, mine was what they call the \u2018widowmaker,\u2019\u201d Black said. \u201cThat artery carries 50% of the blood to your heart, and as my cardiologist was doing the procedure, he showed me that 90% of that artery was blocked.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf these gentlemen had not showed up and performed what they know how to do best, I wouldn\u2019t be here right now,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Black has since made a full recovery. He said he met with his cardiologist the day before Wednesday\u2019s reunion and received a strong report.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel great,\u201d Black said. \u201cI got a new lease on life.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Saunders, the sequence of events that led to Black\u2019s survival felt like more than coincidence. The couple had driven from Port St. Lucie to Oviedo to visit Saunders\u2019 daughter and granddaughter. They happened to park directly in front of the church entrance \u2014 right next to where St. John was stationed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe there are no coincidental coincidences,\u201d Saunders said. \u201cThe fact that there was an empty spot right in front of the church \u2014 that was unusual. And for us to be parked right in front of the officer who was hired by the church to be there was a miracle.\u201d<\/p>\n
St. John credited the Oviedo Police Department\u2019s training program for preparing him to act quickly and effectively under pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all based on training,\u201d St. John said. \u201cOur training department here is phenomenal. They put us through a lot of high-stress situations and how to act during them. So, when something like that happens, you\u2019re already ready for the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
For St. John, Wednesday\u2019s reunion carried deep personal meaning.<\/p>\n
\u201cI actually got the chills,\u201d St. John said. \u201cWhen you do this job and you do this, you don\u2019t know if you\u2019re going to get a call. You don\u2019t know if you\u2019re ever going to get an update, and it\u2019s fine \u2014 that\u2019s our job. But when I heard he wanted us to call and we called him, I heard his voice. It was great. It was unbelievable. It was phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so happy to see him walk and stand and talking and everything else,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Black said reaching out to St. John after his recovery was something he felt compelled to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Kathy drove me home from the hospital, I said to her, I have to get in touch with the gentleman that helped me out and saved my life,\u201d Black said. \u201cYou don\u2019t get your life saved too often. This is a very special moment in my life \u2014 something that will be with me forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Black closed with a message for anyone who may be putting off a visit to the doctor.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo those people out there who have any sort of chest pain, pressure, something that just doesn\u2019t feel right \u2014 see a physician immediately,\u201d he said. \u201cGo get yourself checked out, because you just never know.\u201d<\/p>\n
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