Madison Johnston, a North Carolina nurse, was visiting Pennsylvania’s North Fayette Township on Wednesday when her out-of-state adventure suddenly turned into another day at the office — a life-saving encounter that quickly spread across the internet.
Cody Shannon was sitting at the bar at the Burgatory restaurant where it all happened. A woman was choking at the local eatery and quickly passed out from the lack of air. Shannon described the event as chaotic and scary.
“She swooped in like the Burgatory Batman and just started saving a life basically,” Shannon told KDKA-TV.
“I don’t know where the nurse came from,” Shannon said. “I tried, I gave it my best shot but she was still choking and at that point, she had collapsed. That nurse came in and saved her life.”
Johnston was just leaving the restaurant when she heard people yelling for a health care hero. The nurse sprang into action.
“When the 911 operator — I started talking to them — said, ‘lay her down and start doing compressions’ and I felt and I didn’t feel a good pulse,” Johnston told KDKA-TV. “So I said, ‘OK, let’s do this.’”
Johnston saves lives for a living, but appreciated the praise from onlookers all the same.
“I do this for a living, but hearing somebody be able to thank you and say that I’m a hero is just so kind and I couldn’t have done it without everybody who was there,” she said.
The choking woman suffered six broken ribs, but it thankful to be alive.
“I really thank those people and I do owe them my life,” she told KDKA-TV.
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