FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A former correctional officer trained in CPR was in the right place at the right time when a cyclist collapsed to the ground and stopped breathing.
Nidia Hernandez said she didn’t notice anything odd initially about the man when he passed her on his bike, according to WPBF. But moments later, he stopped, staggered off his bike, and collapsed.
Hernandez rushed to the man’s side along with two other Good Samaritans. Hernandez gave rescue breaths while another performed chest compressions.
“Between them and me, we were trying so hard to get him to breathe,” she said.
Finally the man made a gasping noise and started breathing again. A police officer arrived and took over chest compressions; finally paramedics arrived to take the man to the hospital.
Hernandez never thought she would need to use CPR, but now firmly believes everyone should learn how to do it.
“I think everybody should at least take a course in it,” she said. “Because you never know, your child, anybody, is going to need it eventually.”