A Dunkin’ Donuts employee is being hailed as a hero after she sprang into action to save the life of a semi truck driver who collapsed at a truck stop in New Hampshire.
The incident happened on Wednesday, February 13, at a rest stop in Cadia, New Hampshire.
Twenty-nine year old truck driver David Wood was stopped at the rest stop on his way back home to Tennessee when he collapsed from a heart attack while standing in front of his truck.
It was eight minutes before another truck driver noticed Wood lying unresponsive in the snow and called 911.
Many good Samaritans, including a Dunkin’ Donuts worker who was trained in CPR, scrambled to save the life of a truck driver who collapsed in the snow outside of a rest stop in New Hampshire: https://t.co/4WWHFR7j1Z pic.twitter.com/Qa9huLUTjc
— Frank O'Laughlin (@FJO_News) February 18, 2019
Another person alerted workers at the nearby Dunkin’ Donuts restaurant — and 24 year old employee April Merchant ran outside and began performing CPR on Wood until help arrived.
Two days after the incident, Wood is alert and up on his feet walking. He and his family are now focused on his recovery.
Wood’s mother Felicia Bertram told WCAX that Merchant saved her son’s life: “Even the doctors said, if she had not done that, he would not be with us.”
Bertram also explained that the heart attack could been triggered by hereditary causes: “He had what they call sudden cardiac death. Meaning he had some sort of electrical anomaly in his heart. It tends to run in my family.”
Doctors also told Bertram that collapsing in the cold snow had prevented Wood from suffering from a brain injury.
The incident was captured by a security camera. You can view the video below.
A Dunkin’ Donuts employee who recently learned CPR saves a truck driver’s life after he collapses. @ABonTV has more on the incredible story. https://t.co/W1vUNMab63 pic.twitter.com/yE93vZfHLb
— Good Morning America (@GMA) February 17, 2019