A Virginia woman is searching for the mysterious nurse who saved her life after she had a heart attack in a local park.
Melinda Pereira says that she often walks through Echo Lake Park in Henrico County as part of a daily ritual to de-stress. However, while walking on November 5, she noticed that “something felt off.”
Shortly after, she suffered a cardiac arrest and fell unconscious.
“Apparently, I was not breathing, no pulse, and unconscious, and some guardian angel that started the first steps to life-saving measures is why I’m still here today,” she told 12 On Your Side.
Unbeknownst to her, a mysterious nurse gave her CPR while medics raced to the scene and later took her to the hospital.
“The doctors said if everything wasn’t in alignment, it would’ve been a different outcome,” she said. “Nobody knows her name, they just said she was a nurse and that she did CPR, and I have the sore ribs to prove it, and that her efforts were vital to my recovery, to my survival.”
Now, Pereira says she is desperate to find the unidentified bystander who rushed to her side. She told the local station that she remembers nothing from the cardiac arrest, except that she felt unwell beforehand.
Pereira, who is now on the road to recovery, said that she wants to thank the nurse and is appealing for more information about her. The hospital, where she was treated, did not record the bystander’s name.
“I have three kids, I have six grandchildren,” Pereira said. “All who came together during this episode to the hospital.
“They wouldn’t have me if it were not for you,” she continued. “I think you were meant to be in the spot that you were in.”
According to the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation, around 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur every year in the United States. That means nearly 1000 people suffer from an OHCA per day, with 63.4 percent of people experiencing them being male.
Most occur at home or at another person’s residence, with only 12 percent occurring in public.
When experiencing an OCHA, it is important to seek medical attention as quickly as possible, as the likelihood of a fatal outcome increases with time.
Medical experts at Heart.org say that if you see someone experiencing a cardiac arrest, which is often characterized by a lack of responsiveness and a lack of breathing, you should immediately call for help.
Administering CPR is vital, as it can restore healthy blood flow, according to the Cleveland Clinic. During a cardiac arrest, your heart stops pumping blood as it is either beating too quickly or not at all.
A lack of blood flow starves your organs of oxygen, putting your entire body at risk.
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