Man jumps in to save collapsed woman's life at grocery store
He just wanted to bring home some milk.
But after a trip to a local grocer to pick up supplies for his twin children turned into a frantic, life-or-death situation, Justin Thomas came home a hero instead.
“I just saw someone in need,” Thomas said to Houston’s KPRC. “I didn’t even think about it, I just jumped in to help.”
The CPR-certified electrician says a woman at League City Kroger was on the floor and appeared to be in cardiac arrest.
Luckily, a medical and CPR background along with 10 years of service in the United States Coast Guard prepared Thomas for just this situation — and ready he was.
“I heard someone scream out, so I moved toward the direction of the scream. Then I saw a lady splayed out on the floor,” he said.
“I came down on both knees, I looked at her and saw that her face was turning blue and I just quickly started administering CPR and started giving her chest compressions. I literally saw where her sternum was,” Thomas added. “I put my forearm with my fingers back and just started pumping her chest.”
Thomas says he and another shopper continued to administer CPR and other life-saving efforts and keep the women breathing efforts until paramedics arrived and brought her to a hospital.
“The doctors told her that if it wasn’t for the quick actions, she wouldn’t have made it,” he told KPRC.
Thomas added that he was contacted by the family of the woman and they confirmed that she had indeed survived, thanks in large part to his hasty response to the situation. He’s urging other people to follow his lead and learn CPR because “you'll never know when you might need those crucial skills.”
So, what does it feel like to be a hero? Not quite as glamorous as you might think, perhaps.
“Afterward was kind of strange, a strange feeling,” Thomas told KPRC.
“Like, I have all this adrenaline and I still have to go get the milk.”
More of What’s Good:
