911 operator honored for helping wife perform CPR on dying husband

May 3 was a regular day for Molly and Joseph Yoder, when things changed quickly.

“He said ‘I’m fading.’ That’s it,” Molly Yoder said. “I went ‘Joseph.’ I got no response.”

Molly Yoder grabbed her phone and dialed 911. On the other end was a calm voice, the voice of Paula Clark, a call taker at the Raleigh 911 dispatch center for the past two years.

“Every time that phone rings, you have no idea what’s on the other end of it,” Clark said.

This time, the caller was a panicked wife, needing help and comfort as her husband struggled.

“I gave my address and said ‘My husband is dying,’” Molly Yoder said.

Clark, trained and poised, told Molly Yoder to put the phone on speaker and listen to her instructions.

“She said ‘We are going to start CPR. I want your hands between his nipples. I want you to press. We are going to count together,’” Molly Yoder recalled.

Six minutes later, help arrived and paramedics were able to save Joseph Yoder thanks to help from Clark’s expertise.

“He would be dead if she hadn’t answered that phone,” Molly Yoder said.

The Yoders didn’t want Clark’s help to go unnoticed and wanted to meet the woman who helped so much.

“It’s not very often that you are able to help save a life that matters more to you than anybody in the world, and you say ‘thank you’ for that,” Molly Yoder said.

Clark says she usually doesn’t know what happens after a 911 call ends, but this time she knows she saved a life.