VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Two employees at the Princess Anne Family YMCA in Virginia Beach are being recognized as News 3 Everyday Heroes after their quick action potentially saved a man's life during a cardiac emergency on March 19.
Al Steven says he had just finished a typical workout at the gym.
"I just disinfected the treadmill I’d used, and then I just collapsed. The next thing I knew, I was being wheeled into the Emergency Room," Steven recalled to News 3 during a return trip to the gym three weeks later.
YMCA staffers Kelly Watkins and Kassie Jedding can fill in the blanks. They were in a nearby office.
“I saw him kind of doing something and all of a sudden, he collapsed right here, hit his head on the elliptical on the way down and we ran out immediately," recalled Watkins.
Jedding says Steven was initially breathing, but his condition quickly worsened.
“I asked Kelly to call 911, she took over that. At that point, he started to change color," said Jedding. "We rolled him back over and we realized that he was now not breathing. I could not find a pulse.”
Fortunately, both employees were trained in CPR and other lifesaving techniques they say are mandated by the YMCA for all staff members. Jedding began chest compressions while Watkins continued directing emergency assistance.
Soon, they say a small crowd of gym-goers and other staff gathered and helped.
Just feet away, Jedding located an automated external defibrillator (AED) just feet away. She used it on Steven, providing critical shocks intended to restore his heart rhythm, while Watkins assisted.
"You just try and remember what you’ve been trained to do the best you can," Watkins said.
And that day, Steven tells News 3 his doctors let him know his life was saved.
“Thank you isn’t enough. It isn’t. I wouldn’t be here getting emotional, which I don’t normally do, without them doing that," he said.
It's emotional for Watkins and Jedding too. Jedding says she's since learned about connections between her family and Steven's; her daughter and Steven's granddaughter share a class and the two families were recently on the same cruise.
“I honestly believe that God aligned him to be here at this time. I believe he put all of us here at this time. Kelly and I are normally not here on that day. I truly believe that with the YMCA’s training, everything fell into place," said Jedding.
Steven hasn't returned for workout just yet, but he hopes to in the future. In the meantime, he says he's wearing a pacemaker and his ribs are sore.
"I've been told a number of times, it's because they did a good job," he said. “Just because of dumb luck and circumstance, I was in the right spot at the right time with the right people around that knew what to do.”
They're lifesaving skills that anyone can learn, and Jedding and Watkins used them to perfection.
For that, they've been named this week's News 3 Everyday Heroes, with a $300 Visa gift card prize, courtesy of Southern Bank.
