64-Year-Old Dead on Ground for 28 Minutes until Homeless Man Saves Life
George Dakin Jr. is one fortunate man. After being dead for close to 28 minutes, he came back to life, thanks to a stranger.
Sixty-four-year-old architect Dakin was in the right place at the right time. He told his wife that he was just going to park the car before he suddenly collapsed from cardiac arrest.
Help came from the most unexpected place: a homeless shelter.
Dakin had been just in front of the CHAMP Homes homeless shelter when his heart stopped beating. Austin Davis, a tenant of the shelter, was just inside.
Davis ran to the rescue as he saw Dakin go down. Davis had recently learned CPR in the shelter and knew just what to do.
He, along with two others, worked on Dakin for ten minutes until an ambulance arrived.
“When I started doing compressions on him I was looking at him and I could tell he was already gone,” said Davis, thinking that his actions might be too late. Still, he continued CPR.
The heart attack was brought on by a blockage in the LAD artery. The situation could not have been more serious. The blockage, nicknamed the widow maker, is almost always fatal.
The paramedics took over, but he was unresponsive for close to 28 minutes. Dakin had flat-lined. Finally, there was a pulse, and this fortunate man was rushed to the hospital.
“No one could believe it. The ambulance folks didn’t believe it. The doctors didn’t believe it.
“They said if you’re in the hospital and you have an LAD blockage in the hospital you won’t survive it — even if you’re in the hospital!” exclaimed Dakin of his fortunate escape from death.
He had Davis to thank. If not for the homeless man’s quick action, giving life-saving CPR, the outcome would not have been a joyful one.
In an effort to repay Davis, a GoFundMe account was set up by Dakin’s children.
Money was donated to buy Davis a new car and to help with other expenses to get him back on his feet.
Dakin’s daughter, Jodi, said of Davis, “He is doing EVERYTHING right to escape his circumstantial homelessness — but the hurdle is TREMENDOUS. Odds of escaping homelessness are about as bleak as walking away from a heart attack.”
It seemed that God had put these two men together for a reason.
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