'Life mattered': Women who saved heart attack victim's life on I-80 share incredible story
It is an extraordinary case of perfect timing.
It is an extraordinary case of perfect timing.
It is an extraordinary case of perfect timing.
A man who had a heart attack on I-80 on Wednesday is saved by a mother and a nurse who were in the right place at the right time.
KETV first brought you this story on Thursday, and now the two women are speaking to us about what happened that day.
It is an extraordinary case of perfect timing: Delanne Porter was on I-80 late afternoon Wednesday with her son. Coming around a curve, she noticed a vehicle stopped on the shoulder and a woman frantically waving for help.
Porter pulls over, finding 58-year-old Thomas Watt unconscious in the car's driver's seat suffering from a full-blown heart attack.
"I get up and he's just slumped over. So I put him back and I just see his face just turning blue. I'm like, we got to get him out, like if there's any chance, we got to get him out," said Porter.
Like a quick-thinking mom in rescue mode, Porter gets Watt out of the car and onto the ground.
"I unzipped his jacket and felt for a pulse and there wasn't one. And she's like does anybody know CPR, and I was like well, yeah, no. And I just started doing compressions, and then I hear this lady," said Porter.
That lady turned out to be a Nebraska Medicine registered nurse named Nieves Ferraz, and Ferraz knew exactly what to do.
"I just started doing good compressions. 30, let's say 30 good compressions," said Ferraz.
Ferraz goes through CPR training every three years, but performs it often at the hospital. It was a long road for her becoming a nurse. She grew up and graduated college in Venezuela; English is her second language. She had to juggle work, school and kids, but she persisted and finally became a nurse.
Now, she was about to save a life.
"Yeah, he started kind of like ... he did like a big snore and opened his eyes," said Ferraz. "His color came back and the pulse came back. So I was thinking there was already no pulse and there it was, and I was like, oh my God, he has a pulse."
Watt made it to the hospital alive. He is now recovering with his wife and six kids.
Porter and Ferraz are both mothers themselves, as well as caretakers. For the Watt family, they are undeniable heroes.
"You just do it because this is your job. That's what you do," said Ferraz.
"Life mattered, and if this was me making it another day to see my kids," said Porter.
Doctors say the immediate CPR Watt received definitely saved his life and prevented any potential brain damage from lack of oxygen.
They say it is critical that people learn CPR because you never know when you will need it. You can find those resources here.