Cop comes to aid of heart attack victim

  • Published
  • By Susan Griggs
  • 81st Training Wing Public Affairs
KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  There are angels among us ... and some of them are in uniform.

About 5:15 a.m. Friday, Tech. Sgt. James Harrell Jr. was on his way home from a shift with the 81st Security Forces Squadron. As he traveled west on Pass Road, he turned south onto Rodenberg Avenue -- not his normal route home to Gulfport.

"I can't explain it ... I just decided to turn there," said Sergeant Harrell, a familiar face at Keesler for the past six years. He's actually assigned to the 908th Airlift Wing at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., but is on temporary duty here.

As he approached Irish Hill Drive, he saw something in the eastbound lane ... a body. An elderly man who had been walking his dog collapsed in the road. Sergeant Harrell rushed to his aid, while the clerk at a nearby convenience store called 911.

"He wasn't breathing and he had no with his ability to keep the man alive for five to seven minutes until emergency medical technicians arrived.

"My response was automatic -- this man needed help," he continued. "It was very intense and seemed to take forever. When the EMTs got there, he was flat-lined ... he'd had a massive heart attack and they had to shock him five times to bring him back."

The emergency responders took the victim to Biloxi Regional Medical Center and Sergeant Harrell headed for home, emotionally and physically drained by the incident. One thought kept nagging him -- did the man survive?

Later that day while he was in a drug identification class, a call came from the Biloxi Police Department -- the stricken man had survived and was in serious but stable condition. The official police report noted that the hospital staff said that due to Sergeant Harrell's quick actions, the man would probably recover without any serious consequences.

"My mom is a CPR instructor, and she was very proud of me when I called her," Sergeant Harrell commented. "I'm so glad that gentleman survived. It was an incredible experience -- knowing you've helped another human being is very rewarding."

Perhaps the greatest reward was the phone call he received from his 10-year-old daughter, Taylor, who lives in Alabama.

"Daddy, God sends angels," Taylor insisted. "God sent you to help that man."