Heart attack crash
DALLAS - Quick thinking residents may have saved the life of a Dallas driver who suffered a heart attack.
The man's vehicle slammed into the back of a parked truck at about midnight in the 3800 block of McKinney Avenue.
People living nearby who heard the commotion, including Adam Golden who happens to be a nurse, ran out. A nurse at Forrest Park Medical Center, Golden broke the car window with a hammer and crawled inside the vehicle.
"I feel for a pulse and he doesn't have a pulse," he said. "So, I just started CPR."
Golden said 10 to 15 minutes went by before an ambulance showed up. All the while, he kept up the CPR.
"The whole time I was very calm, not scared," he said. "Someone asked me, 'Were you nervous?' I think you just don't think about it ; you do what you have to do."
Police told Golden his CPR worked; emergency crews were able to get the victim's pulse before leaving the scene. However, the man was still in critical condition.
For Golden, he said he is proud he acted fast, but thinks nothing more of what he did.
"Nurses in general are in the business of saving lives," he said. "That is what we do, and that's what we love to do. I don't feel like a hero. I feel the same as I did yesterday, and the same as I will tomorrow."
The car crash victim was rushed to Baylor Medical Center for attention.
As for Golden, he too needed medical attention since he didn't have time to put on shoes before breaking the car window. Doctors had to remove glass from his feet.
E-mail: sslater@wfaa.com
