LINCOLN, Nebraska (KOLN) – A son still has his father with whom to go fishing and work in cars thanks to four strangers who realized he had a medical emergency in the middle of traffic.
“I just want to say thank you,” Henry Purdie said.
Henry said Keith Purdie was driving at the intersection of West A and Coddington Avenue when he had a heart attack in the middle of traffic. He said what happened next is all thanks to four Lincoln people.
One of them is Kimberly Malone-Mueller. He was on his way to Russ Market on Saturday afternoon when he noticed Keith’s van sitting at the intersection not moving. People were honking but the truck was still not moving.
“As I took my turn, I noticed that I was looking down and I thought,‘ well, normally when people look down, they’ll look up when they’re nailed, ’” Malone-Mueller said.
He left the car in the park and knocked on Keith’s window, asking if he was okay. He got no response, so he tried the door handle, luckily it was unlocked.
He found Keith dust-free.
“Luckily, the man’s foot was stuck to the brake, so I was able to leave the car in the parking lot and turn it off and at that point another man had stopped in traffic and we were able to get him out of the car Malone-Mueller said.
It was at this point that Malone-Mueller found himself on the phone with a 911 dealer.
“He asked if I knew CPR and I immediately said no,” Malone-Mueller said.
That’s when Josh Brewer showed up and started doing chest compressions, giving Keith a chance to fight for his life.
“I just jumped in to help,” Brewer said. “I would expect someone to do it for me, I would do it for anyone. I just jumped in to save a life. “
Brewer and an off-duty police officer performed CPR until paramedics arrived from the fire station just three blocks away and took Keith to the hospital.
“He’s doing well,” Henry said. “As good as it can be.”
Henry said he has no words to thank those who helped his father.
“I’m very grateful,” he said. “Making them intensify in this way means the world.”
Malone-Mueller and Brewer said they never expected to find out what Keith’s outcome would be.
“I was just waiting for him to come out and be healthy,” Brewer said.
But listening to the family was a relief.
“He didn’t want his last moments to be on the side of the road surrounded by strangers,” Malone-Mueller said. “I’m very happy that other moments will happen.”
Malone-Mueller, Brewer and Henry have an experience to take away.
“In this situation with my dad, CPR was a life-saving thing,” Henry said. “CPR is very important and people who know how to do it are a great resource.”
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