Two men save driver suffering seizure at busy Raleigh intersection
A Raleigh woman met the men who saved her life Wednesday night after she suffered a seizure behind the wheel at a busy intersection.
Posted — Updated"For the most part, I'm OK," she said Wednesday night. "A few bruises, but I'm OK."
Reid-Hope suffered a seizure behind the wheel.
Luckily, Ideal Heating and Cooling co-workers Sergio Codoy and Jon Clark were sitting at a red light when they saw her cross the intersection and drive into the grass. Putting their service call on hold, the two men sprang into action.
"When we got to her, the car was locked," Clark said. "One of the main concerns was making sure the car didn't take off anymore."
"We saw it got worse because we saw blood come out of her mouth and it looked like she was about to pass out," Codoy said. "So, I ran to the truck, grabbed a hammer and knocked out the back window."
Codoy jumped in the car and held Reid-Hope upright.
"I was holding her head up and dropped her jaw and grabbed her tongue to make sure she didn't bite her tongue off and make sure the tongue wasn't swallowed," he said.
Codoy said his military training in combat life-saving allowed him to act quickly to help Reid-Hope. Both men say they were glad to be in the right place at the right time.
"There's not many chances that you get to help someone and save their life and it just, it really impacts you," Clark said.
Reid-Hope said she's grateful to the men who saved her life.
"All I could think was, 'Thank God,' because it could have been much worse," she said. "So, I'm standing here by the grace of God."
The Epilepsy Information Service offered these tips to help someone who has a seizure:
- Keep calm. Help him/her lie down. Roll the person onto his/her side, preferably left side. This allows saliva to drain out. Remove glasses and loosen tight clothing.
- Clear the area of hard, sharp or hot objects which could cause injury. Place something soft under the head.
- Do not restrain the person. You can not stop a seizure once it has begun.
- Do not force anything between the teeth. Attempts to prevent tongue-biting can do more harm than good. The tongue cannot be swallowed.
- Following the seizure, the person will. often be sleepy and need to rest.
- Do not offer anything to drink until the person is fully awake.
Call 911 only if:
- the person has one seizure after another without waking up.
- the person does not start breathing after the seizure. (It is normal for people to have difficulty breathing during a seizure.)
- the person has been injured.
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