ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A young man rushed over to his next-door neighbor's house after his father collapsed early Saturday morning.
Video from a security camera showed Jack Schaefer running to his neighbor's home around 2:30 a.m. Security footage shows Jack knocking on his neighbor's door until she answers.
Watch full report from Julie Salomone
In the video, Jack tells his neighbor, "He's unconscious and he's not breathing very well."
His father, Tom Schaefer, collapsed at home after telling his wife he was not feeling well.
His neighbor, Tori Walker, a registered nurse, rushes over to the Schaefer's home to help.
"I saw his youngest son, Jack, in the window so of course, I ran to my front door. I was like what's going on? It's my dad, it's my dad. I was like is he okay? He's like no, no, he's unconscious," said Tori.
Tori said she performed CPR for eight minutes until paramedics arrived at the home in St. Petersburg.
"He was guppy breathing which we know as a nurse and registered nurse, I knew his heart wasn't beating," she said.
Paramedics continued life-saving measures, including CPR and using an AED. They brought Tom to HCA Florida Northside Hospital in St. Petersburg.
Tom suffered a heart attack and remained in an intensive care unit. Nurses are amazed he survived.
"He had pretty much a massive blockage. I believe it was his RCA (right coronary artery) we stented," said Jacqueline Wooley, a registered nurse with HCA Florida Northside Hospital.
"He didn't have neurological function whatsoever. I was really thinking that he was, sorry to say this, like a lost cause, basically. He had no corneal reflexes, no pain reflexes whatsoever. He didn't have a cough, he didn't have a gag. He had nothing," she said.
Tom woke up and spent several days recovering at the hospital. Doctors placed a stent in his right coronary artery.
He was discharged from the hospital on Thursday.
Tom does not remember anything from Saturday morning, but his wife said he was not feeling well prior to the heart attack.
"My husband was puking and then sweating a lot. All of a sudden, he was thirsty, he drank some water and he puked the water."
"He says oh, I'm feeling better now and he falls to the side," recalled his wife Michelle Schaefer.
Tom is co-owner of Canoe Country Outfitters in St. Petersburg. He hopes to eventually return to work. He is grateful to Tori, who has been his neighbor for the past 12 years.
Tom wanted to share his story to encourage others to learn CPR.
"A second chance at life and to spread advocacy of doing compressions to save people's life," said Tom.
"Every man over 40 years old should be checked for high blood pressure," he added.
Tori praises God for the positive outcome.
"I thank God I was there because we did not want a different outcome," said Tori.
According to the American Heart Association, only about 40% of people who experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) get the immediate help that they need before professional help arrives.
The 2023 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics state that among the over 356,000 OHCA that occurred, 40.2% received bystander CPR.
More CPR Facts and Stats from the American Heart Association at this link
Share Your Story with Julie
From the courtroom to your commute, Julie Salomone works to share the issues that matter to you. She also focuses on the day-to-day issues in Sarasota County, so be sure to reach out to Julie to start a conversation.
.
A slew of new laws take effect in Florida
Nearly 30 new laws take effect in Florida on Oct. 1. We are highlighting the laws that are generating a lot of attention.
