North Carolina nurse saves Florida man’s life when she notices he had a heart attack at the airport before boarding a flight to Knoxville

A Florida man says it was a “miracle” that an attentive nurse was nearby when he suffered a heart attack at a North Carolina airport. Without her intervention, doctors say he likely would have died.

Claire Cerbie was waiting to board her flight to Knoxville, Tennessee, at Charlotte Douglas International Airport on June 7 when she was sitting at the same gate and noticed 57-year-old Ken Jeffries in medical distress, WBTV reported.

Except for Cerbie, a trained nurse, no one noticed that Jeffries was having a heart attack.

“Just the way you were snoring and breathing, from what I’ve seen so far, it sounded like you were having a heart attack,” Cerbie Jeffries said Monday during a reunion Zoom call arranged by the outlet.

Without hesitation, Cerbie rushed to her fellow passenger’s aid and instructed others to help her.

She began CPR on Jeffries after telling another Good Samaritan to get a defibrillator.

“We put the bandages on him,” said the nurse at the store.

“It detected a shockable rhythm and gave him an intermittent shock while we performed CPR.”

Cerbie, who previously worked at Atrium Health’s Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute in Charlotte, along with others, worked tirelessly to care for the 57-year-old, trying to keep him alive until first responders arrived.

Fortunately, after about ten minutes of life-saving care, Jeffries got his pulse back.

“He had his own rhythm. He was breathing on his own and we just stayed with him until the paramedics arrived,” she said.

Jeffries was subsequently taken to Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center where he underwent emergency surgery.

Dr. William Downey, a cardiologist at the Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute who performed the surgery, said if Cerbie had not intervened immediately, performed CPR and used the defibrillator, Jeffries would have died, according to the newspaper.

The Jacksonville, Florida resident was overcome with emotion as he made contact with his rescuer for the first time since the medical emergency.

“It’s a miracle that I was in this place at this time when it happened and that the people around me are there,” he told Cerbie wholeheartedly.

“‘Thank you’ is not enough, Claire. Thank you for what you have done. I am so grateful and indebted to you.”

The humble nurse replied that she was glad she was there to help and that her years of experience were enough to keep him alive.

“I am very glad that I was there to help you that day. Of course, I would do it again in a heartbeat,” she said.

“I’m so glad you’re doing well.”

In gratitude for saving the lives of her fellow passengers, American Airlines upgraded Cerbie to first class on her flight to Knoxville, WBTV reported.

Jeffries told the outlet that he had not noticed any signs or symptoms indicating an impending heart attack prior to his cardiac arrest.

A heart attack, or myocardial infarction, is a serious medical emergency that occurs when blood flow to the heart muscle is suddenly blocked, preventing the heart from receiving enough oxygen.

According to the CDC, someone in the United States has a heart attack every 40 seconds.

In the United States, approximately 805,000 people suffer a heart attack each year.

“About one in five heart attacks is silent – ​​the damage is done, but the person is not aware of it,” the CDC explains.

According to the American Heart Association, a healthy diet, regular physical activity, seven to nine hours of sleep per night, not smoking and maintaining a balanced stress level can significantly reduce the risk of heart attack.