COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — Columbia firefighters and staff from Blue Marlin Restaurant in the Vista were recognized Thursday morning for saving the life of an employee that went into cardiac arrest.
On the morning of January 12th, Blue Marlin Executive Chef Maegan Horton says she went looking for her friend and coworker, Blue Marlin Food Prep Curtis Adams, to return his cutting board to him.
Horton says had she not, no one may have found him in time.
“And that morning for some odd reason I wanted to give him that cutting board and I couldn’t find him. And the last place I wanted to look was in the restroom or the walk-in, and I found him in the walk-in that morning,” says Horton, who found Adams in distress.
“That was good Miss Maegan was there, and a good thing I didn’t go in the bathroom and lock the door because that would’ve been it right there!” says Adams.
Horton says when she realized Adams wasn’t breathing, she and her coworkers laid Adams down in the office. Horton began CPR while a co-worker called 911.
“You never forget it,” says Horton on knowing how to perform CPR. She says she learned the process more than 12 years ago when she was a lifeguard.
Soon after Horton began performing CPR, Columbia firefighters arrived and began using an AED, or Automated External Defibrillator, machine on Adams’ heart before taking him to a nearby hospital.
“In that moment I was very thankful that firefighters gave a quick response. They were here within 3 or 4 minutes but in that moment it felt like an eternity,” says Horton.
Adams says he can’t describe how thankful he is that Horton was there to perform CPR, saying, “I don’t know how to say that word, I’ll just say blessed. All the angels were around me. You know what I’m saying. I can’t explain that like I want to. Just thank God for everybody.”
Adams also hopes every job has someone who knows CPR.
“Because it could happen to anybody you know what I’m saying. So I just happened to have good people around me to take care of me at that time. Thank God for that, that’s all I can say,” Adams says.
Adams plans to return to work within the next few weeks.
The AED used by the Columbia Fire Department was supplied by Alsco Uniforms. Places of business looking to have an AED machine available at their workplace can contact Tim Nesmith with Alsco at 803-873-0240.
This article was originally published on abccolumbia.com