Copyright 2006 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
By SUSAN WEICH
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)
LAKE SAINT LOUIS, Mo. — Anne and Bill Davis were exploring a new route home from Wal-Mart in Lake Saint Louis on Sunday when they spotted a jogger who had collapsed in the road.
Luckily for the runner, Joe Lucas, the Davises, of Wentzville, know a thing or two about first aid. Bill Davis is a St. Peters police officer, and Anne Davis is a paramedic supervisor for the St. Charles County Ambulance District.
Lucas, 44, had stopped breathing and had no pulse. The Davises started CPR, and within two minutes, Lucas blinked and then started breathing on his own.
Lucas was recovering at St. Joseph Health Center in St. Charles on Tuesday after having a stent inserted in a blocked artery. He said he had not suffered a heart attack, but a blockage had caused a temporary loss of blood to his brain.
Lucas said he runs 12 to 15 miles a week. He had only run about a half-mile Sunday when he started feeling lightheaded, then fell face-first to the pavement near Lake Saint Louis Boulevard and Technology Drive.
The next thing Lucas remembers is Anne Davis asking him if he was OK.
“She was definitely a good Samaritan,” he said.
Anne Davis, who has worked for the ambulance district for 25 years, said it was the first time she had used CPR away from her job. Her husband, a 37-year police veteran, said this was the first time he ever saw anyone saved by CPR.
“I’ve been to a lot of cases where they’ve done CPR, but they never came back. It was nice to see someone actually survive,” he said.
Lucas’ rescue was the second time in 10 days that a St. Charles County resident has suffered a heart problem and been saved by passers-by. On April 21, Carolyn Holt suffered a heart attack while driving on Mid Rivers Mall Drive and was resuscitated by two nurses and a defibrillator salesman who stopped to help.
Marty Limpert, spokesman for the St. Charles County Ambulance District, said that though cardiac saves are rare, the sooner somebody intervenes, as in these two cases, the better the victim’s chance for survival.
Lucas said he hopes to be released from the hospital today and plans to enroll in a CPR class soon.
“I know I’ll take a lot of abuse for this,” he said. “But you know what? I’m glad I’m here to take it.”