You deserve good things
Was it just happenstance that three nurses who’d never met were waiting together in the service department of a Toyota dealership? Not according to Lisa Perry—for her, it was a lifesaving blessing!
“Can I get an oil change,” 53-yearold Lisa Perry asked the service rep at Springhill Toyota in Mobile, Alabama, last October 13. “My sisters and I are taking a road trip, so can you also check the belts and tires?”
“Sure,” the rep said, and with her car being worked on, Lisa got herself a cup of coffee and took a seat in the waiting area.
Moments later, Shannon Lambeth, who was also waiting for her car to be serviced, heard Lisa softly snoring. Poor dear, she must be tired, Shannon thought. But then the snores turned into an ominous gasping and, looking over, Shannon saw Lisa had dropped her cup and didn’t react when hot coffee had spilled in her lap.
Shannon sprang to her feet. The New Orleans psychiatric nurse had driven to Mobile on an errand and, passing by the Toyota dealership, had decided to get an oil change on a whim.
Hurrying over, Shannon saw the stranger wasn’t breathing, and she couldn’t find a pulse! “Somebody call 911!” Shannon shouted.
Cindy Hubbart was across the room waiting for new tires when she heard Shannon’s cry.
She raced over, still dressed in scrubs after a 12-hour shift in a local hospital.
As the two women eased Lisa to the floor another pair of hands appeared and a third stranger began compressions.
Makayla Reed, who also happened to be a nurse, had left the dealership an hour before but had returned to collect a refund on an overcharge when she’d heard the commotion.
As onlookers prayed aloud, the three women took turns doing chest compressions. “It’s not working!” Cindy groaned. “Is there a portable defibrillator?” she called out.
“In the far showroom,” General Manager Mike Ricardy announced, and dashed off to fetch it.
Makayla had never used an automated external defibrillator, but the instructions were clear. “Step back,” she told the others, and, after applying the adhesive pads, she pressed the button, sending a shock to Lisa’s heart to try to restore rhythm. It didn’t work.
The women continued CPR and administered two more shocks and more compressions. But Lisa’s pulse was still not steady when EMTS arrived.
“Please, God, let her make it,” Shannon, Cindy and Makayla prayed as Lisa was taken away in an ambulance.
At the hospital, doctors determined the main artery nourishing Lisa’s heart was 80% blocked, causing a massive heart attack. After spending six weeks in an induced coma to gain strength, the grandmother of 10 had stents implanted in her heart.
Once recovering, Lisa was stunned to learn what had happened. “I have to thank those women. They saved my life,” she told her family.
Toyota staff happily arranged a reunion at the dealership. There were hugs and happy tears all around.
“God put us together that day for a reason,” the nurses insisted.
“They were a gift from God,” Lisa agrees. “Thanks to them, I get to watch my grandkids grow up.”