Survivor has a heartfelt reunion with paramedics
Her visit to their Delray fire station is a happy ending for these EMTs.
DELRAY BEACH — It’s rare that a 30-year-old woman has a heart attack — or that she returns to thank the people who rescued her.
But Jessica Cody made her way into Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Station 42 on Tuesday morning, and she didn’t let her walker stop her from hugging and offering soft-spoken words of gratitude to each of the seven first responders who saved her life in April.
“I think I was dead when I came into the ambulance, right? It’s kind of freaky,” Cody said. “Without you, I wouldn’t be here.”
When paramedics responded to the April 27 call at their home west of the city limits, Jessica was unresponsive, her mother was standing panicked in their driveway and a friend was performing CPR with instructions from a 911 dispatcher.
The CPR — performed in the five to eight minutes Cody was unconscious — likely saved her life, responders said Tuesday. After paramedics stabilized her pulse, she was taken to Delray Medical Center, where she had Keep up with The Post’s complete coverage of Delray Beach on its Facebook page dedicated to the city. On Facebook, search for Post on Delray Beach.
three emergency surgeries. A month later, she is expected to make a complete recovery.
Cody’s memories of the days after the attack are spotty.
“I remember the last four days of being in the hospital and losing my voice,” she said. “I wanted water and couldn’t write down water, it was hard. Little stuff like that.”
Jessica said her recovery is going well, all things considered. She wears a life vest that monitors her heart and can deliver a shock if something is wrong, and she uses a walker to get around until her strength fully returns.
A parent never expects to hear that the left side of their previously healthy 30-year-old child’s heart is only functioning at 5 percent, Gladys Cody said of her daughter.
“It was awful from the very