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Sick Woman Saved On NYC-Bound Flight By Married Doctors
By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 26, 2010
Modified Nov 26, 2010
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By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 26, 2010
Modified Nov 26, 2010
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A CBS News producer happened to be on a flight to Laguardia from Atlanta when an 86-year-old fell ill. Luckily, the plane was apparently chock full of doctors and she was saved by a pair of doctors heading to see the Thanksgiving Day Parade! Neurologist Tom Devlin (who was wearing his scrubs) checked out the lady, who apparently had a seizure, heart attack or stroke, during the Wednesday flight. He said she was “Without a pulse, not breathing, completely comatose in her chair... It was clear this was a potential life and death situation," and consulted with his cardiologist wife, Dr. Carol Gruver who then revived the woman.
Gruver told WCBS 2 she did do with "really some minimal resuscitative efforts like raising her legs, putting her down, giving her oxygen, she came back but she was still not in a good way." The flight was diverted to Richmond, so the woman would be taken to a hospital (she's now recovering). Devlin said, "We just did what we do everyday. We’re just glad it looked like it had a very happy ending." He and his wife, who were visiting NYC to take their son to the parade, also "said [the incident is] an excellent reminder that everyone should learn CPR, because you can’t always count on doctors being on a flight." However, on this particular flight, one passenger said on FlyerTalk.com, "When [flight attendant] called for doctors, literally six doctors came forward."
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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